


Higher Learning

by sabershadowkat



Series: Short Silly Fics [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-14 08:37:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4557951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabershadowkat/pseuds/sabershadowkat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The continuation of the short silly stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Higher Learning I - Miss You**

  
  
  
  


Spike missed her already.   
  


He pressed the button on the garage door opener, watching through the small, clear spot in the blacked-out windshield as it slowly rose like a giant mouth. And he was going to drive into it and be swallowed by loneliness. **Alright, mate, enough with the sappy metaphors,** he thought, pulling the De Soto into the garage.   
  


He shut off the engine and climbed out of the car, planning on putting  _Old Yeller_  into the VCR to give him an excuse to be emotional. So into his depressed thoughts, he almost missed the guy wearing brown shorts and shirt carrying a box up his driveway.   
  


"Excuse me," the man called out. "Are you Billy Smith?"   
  


Spike frowned and walked to the end of the shelter of the garage. "Yeah," he replied, wary of anyone knowing his real name.   
  


The man went over to him and held out a thick, calculator-like object. "Package for you," he said. "Sign here."   
  


Spike looked at the thing he held out in confusion, then back at the man with 'UPS' stitched onto his pocket. "Do what?"   
  


The UPS driver set the box on the floor, removed the red plastic pen and pointed where Spike should sign. "Sign here."   
  


The blond vampire took the computerized clipboard and pen, then awkwardly scribbled his name in the black square. His brow went up when he saw his name appear on the display. When he finished, he handed both objects back. "Have a nice day," the UPS man told him.   
  


"Right," Spike replied, watching as he went back down the driveway to the large, brown truck parked in front of it. He picked up the box and entered his house, shutting the electric garage door on his way in.   
  


He set the box on the kitchen table, got out a knife and slit the tape. Opening the cardboard, he pulled out some crumpled newspaper packing material, then grinned when he saw the contents -- six books and a card.   
  


"'Keep w-working,'" he read, recognizing Willow's printing. "'I will be checking up on your prog-ress.'" There was a stick-figure drawing of him, complete with fangs, reading under a tree next to her signature and a post script at the bottom of the card. "'P.S. I'll miss you.'"   
  


Smiling to himself, he closed the card and set it on the table. "I miss you, too," he said.   
  


The house never seemed so empty.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


 

**Higher Learning II - The Dorm Room**

  
  


Willow thanked the driver for his help in carrying her trunk, then looked around what was to be her room for the next eight months.   
  


The door room was small, with painted cement blocks for walls and a single window that went from mid-waist to the ceiling across from the door. On either side of the door were wardrobe closets, and small dressers with mirrors above them flanked each one. Two twin beds lined the walls, followed by a desk and mounted bookshelf. The only floor space was directly down the center of the room. It also looked as though her roommate had already been there, because one of the beds was made up.   
  


"Hi! You must be Willow," someone said from behind her. "I'm your roommate, Lisa."   
  


Willow turned around and saw a tall, lithe, African American, wearing a pair of tights, a black leotard and pink, wrap-around skirt. "Hi, I'm Willow," the hacker said. "But you already know that. Um...hi."   
  


Lisa laughed. "Hi back again," she said, moving gracefully into the room and taking a seat on one of the beds.   
  


"Are you a dancer?" Willow asked.   
  


"What gave it away?" Lisa replied with a grin. "Yeah, my major is dance. What's yours?"   
  


"Um, Independent," she said.   
  


"Ooh, the make-it and bake-it major," Lisa commented. "Either you're really smart or really not smart."   
  


Willow giggled. "Depends on who you ask."   
  


The redhead moved to the desk and set her laptop case on it. She removed her backpack and hung it around the desk chair. "Are you going to orientation?" she asked Lisa.   
  


"Yeah," Lisa replied. "I heard that it's the only time you'll ever learn where everything is located. So, unless I wanted to be lost all year..."   
  


"Do you...would you like to go together?" Willow asked.   
  


"Sure," Lisa answered. She grinned at the hacker. "That way if we get lost on the way there, I don't look like the only idiot."   
  


Willow laughed as she began to empty her luggage. She put her Disney collection on the top shelf of the mounted bookshelf, along with pictures of Buffy, Xander and her at the park; the entire 'Scooby Gang' including Faith, Angel and Giles; and one of her and Spike in camouflage taken at the armory by their paintball friends. Then she tacked up the  _Star Wars_  ticket stub on the bulletin board from her first outing with the blond vampire.   
  


"Who's the hottie?" Lisa asked, pointing to the last picture.   
  


"That's Spike," Willow replied.   
  


"Boyfriend?"   
  


"I wish," she muttered, before replying louder, "No, just a friend."   
  


"Well, if he isn't taken by anyone, you can give him my number," Lisa said. "Because he is  _H-O-T-T._ "   
  


**Over my drained body,** Willow thought to herself. She adjusted the old Dodgers cap on her red hair. **He's mine.** Then the hacker thought of what her roommate had said. "Oh, do you have our phone number? Do we even have a phone line? What about Internet access?"   
  


"We have all of that," Lisa said, standing and moving over to Willow's desk. She pointed under it. "The top one is the computer modem line. It's free. You just have to fill out some paperwork down at the computer admin's office, according to what I read. The bottom is the regular phone line. The phone number is around here somewhere." The tall girl began to look through her things on her desk.   
  


"How do we call long distance?" Willow asked.   
  


"Like normal. The charges are billed to our room," Lisa explained. "Then I guess we divide it however." She pulled out a sheet of paper. "Voila! We have a number."   
  


Willow took the sheet and tacked it up on the bulletin board. "This way we won't lose it," she said, grinning. "Now all we need is a phone."   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning III - Out of Tissue**    
  


First came  _Old Yeller._    
  


Then  _Bambi._    
  


_The Old Mill_  was next.   
  


Which was followed by  _Dumbo._    
  


Next came  _Beauty and the Beast._    
  


And finally,  _Lady and the Tramp_.   
  


Spike would have continued watching more Disney movies, but he'd run out of tissue.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning IV - No, You Do It**   
  
  
  


"No, you do it," Xander said to Buffy.   
  


"No, you," Buffy replied.   
  


"You're the Slayer."   
  


"You're her oldest friend."   
  


"Guys!" Faith snapped. "I'm on my last nerve here, and you're both getting on it."   
  


"Sorry," Buffy apologized. "But, I still won't do it."   
  


"Me either," Xander added.   
  


"Fine,  _I'll_  do it," Faith said. She stomped up the walk to the door and banged on it.

Giles opened his door and looked at the trio standing outside. "Yes? What's wrong?"   
  


"It's confirmed, Watchful," Faith said. The other two nodded behind her. "Billy is Spike."   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning V - Up On The Roof**    
  
  
  


Spike couldn't keep still, which was normal for him, but without Willow being close enough to keep him company, he was doubly hyper. Not even a second after the sun faded, he was out the door to find someone to eat. Usually the specified hunt took longer than ten minutes, but the blond vampire had stumbled upon a knifing and he quickly drained the man.   
  


Then, because he needed to keep busy -- and he was all out of tissues anyway - he got his car and drove down to the hardware store.   
  


Half an hour later, he had all the supplies he needed to re-shingle the roof.   
  


Spike changed into a pair of well-worn black jeans from his old stash of clothing, strapped on a tool belt, clipped the portable phone to one of the loops and returned

outside. He propped the ladder up against the side of his ranch home, climbed up, and proceeded to rip the old shingles off. Each one got tossed into his backyard for later disposal.   
  


After that was done, he descended the ladder, hefted the new shingles over his shoulder and made repeated trips to the roof. Once everything was easily reachable, he pulled several nails from the pocket of the tool belt and stuck them into his mouth. Then he started nailing down the shingles.   
  


If anyone were to stop and notice, or complain about the man hammering on his roof at nine-thirty at night, they would have left him alone. His physical presence alone spoke of someone trying to drive away some emotion with each strike. Which he was.   
  


How could he miss one person so much in such a short amount of time?   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning VI - Undead Hottie**    
  
  
  


"My turn," Faith said, snatching the binoculars away from Buffy.   
  


"Hey!" Buffy protested. "I only had a minute."   
  


"Yeah, but you have your own undead hottie to lust after," Faith told her. "You don't need another one."   
  


Buffy scowled, but turned her attention back to the figure on the roof, driving nails into it as if there were no tomorrow. The two girls had been passing by Spike's house for the second time that day -- the first being when the three friends had broken into the garage to confirm that Billy was Spike - when they saw him up on the roof.   
  


Shirtless. With his black jeans riding low on his hips, a tool belt around his waist.   
  


It was the Coke commercial come to life at night.   
  


Faith had immediately told Buffy to wait there and took off back to her place. Ten minutes later, the second Slayer returned with a pair of binoculars, and the two of them proceeded to ogle Spike. They'd been doing it for roughly an hour, and neither the blond vampire, nor the girls were ready to call it quits.   
  


"Ok, my turn again," Buffy said, grabbing the binoculars back.   
  


"I can't believe that Red kept that hot specimen of male under wraps," Faith commented. "If I was doin' that fine thang, I'd be showin' him and all his assets off. Did you see that vamp's package?"   
  


"Faith!" Buffy hissed. "Willow hasn't had sex with Spike!"   
  


"Then what did she and  _Billy_  do all weekend in LA?" Faith asked. "Watch tv?"   
  


Buffy lowered the binoculars to glare at her sister-in-arms, and the brunette snatched them back. "She would have told me if she had sex."   
  


"Uh-huh," Faith replied. "Just like she told you she was seein' a member of bloodsuckers anonymous? Damn, what I wouldn't give to get a piece of that."   
  


Buffy thought about the night she saw the silhouette of Willow on the curtains. Would the redhead have lied to her?   
  


The hammering suddenly stopped and was replaced by a quiet ringing. The two Slayers exchanged glances, then Faith continued to peer through the binoculars. "He's on the phone."   
  


"Spike get's phone calls?" Buffy said, taking the binoculars away again.   
  


"What you should be askin' is - why did Spike take the phone up to the roof with him?" Faith said. "Could be he's expectin' a call from a certain redheaded fuck-monkey."   
  


" _Faith!"_    
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning VII - The First Call**    
  
  
  


Spike answered the phone with a hitch in his voice. There was only one person who had his number. "'Allo?"   
  


"Hi Sexy Knickers!" Willow's happy voice greeted him on the other end of the line. "What's up?"   
  


"Me, at the moment," he answered, taking a seat on the apex of the roof.   
  


"You're up?" she said with confusion.   
  


"On the roof," he replied.   
  


"Do you think you're Dick Van Dyke?" Willow asked.   
  


Spike laughed. "If I were the chimney sweep, at least my accent would be true." With the scenes from the Disney movie flitting through his mind, he hopped up to his feet again and began using the apex as a balance beam. "How was orientation, kitten?"   
  


"Good. Long. Hot," she replied. "It was located in the science quad, not to be mistaken for the math quad or the arts quad or the humanities quad or that strange quad with the statue of the naked people doing naughty things virgin eyes shouldn't see."   
  


"Did you cover yours up like a good girl?" he asked, coming to the end of the roof. He balanced precariously on one foot for a moment, then jumped around so he was facing the opposite way, and made his way towards the other side, dancing up on his toes.   
  


"Nope," Willow stated. "I stared blatantly at it and wondered if anyone could really get into the position they were in."   
  


"But I'd wager you were a red as your hair."   
  


"Like a stop sign," she agreed. "Oh, I have a phone number and address for you. But I don't have a phone or my Post Office key. So it's not like either one would do you any good at this time."   
  


"Where are you calling from then?" Spike asked. He leapt up on the metal vent pipe sticking out of the roof and executed a turn right out of the movie.   
  


"Payphone in the lobby of my dorm," Willow answered. "Which means I have another two minutes before the operator comes on and asks for more money. The greedy woman."   
  


"Oh." Spike felt his jovial mood plummet and he stopped cavorting about. He sat down once again and rested one bare arm on his upraised knee. He cleared his throat and tried to keep his tone light. "So what's on the old agenda tomorrow? More statues?"   
  


"Tomorrow I have to register for everything," she replied. "Classes, with the computer admin, with the Post Office, with the bank, with student services, with my RA. The list goes on and on. I think Lisa and I will probably get lost at least three times before we find all the buildings."   
  


"Lisa?"   
  


"My roommate," Willow said. "She seems really nice. And she thought you were cute."   
  


"Cute?" he scoffed. "Like some fuzzy bunny?"   
  


Willow giggled. "Like Bunnicula."   
  


Spike groaned. "Great. Now I'm an undergarment  _and_  a vampire rabbit."   
  


"To continue this call, please deposit thirty-five cents for the first minute," the mechanical voice of the operator interrupted.   
  


"Damn," Willow said.   
  


"Bloody hell," Spike said at the same time. "I guess you gotta go, kitten."   
  


"Yeah," she replied. "I'll try and scrounge up some money to call tomorrow night."   
  


"You can always use that annoying AT&T commercial," he suggested.   
  


"Maybe," she said.   
  


"Please deposit thirty-five cents."   
  


"I gotta go," Willow said. "Behave."   
  


"Who me?" Spike asked innocently.   
  


"Yes, you," she said. "And I expect you to read at least one of those books before Saturday."   
  


"Very well, kitten," he sighed dramatically. She giggled, then grew quiet. "Luv?"   
  


"I miss you, Spike," Willow said softly.   
  


Spike felt his heart expand and drop at the same time. "I miss you, too, Willow. I'll talk to you tomorrow."   
  


"'K," she replied. "Bye."   
  


"Bye."   
  


When she hung up, he hit the button on the phone and let it dangle between his bent legs. After a few minutes, he hooked it back onto the belt, then picked up the hammer again.   
  


His strokes were much slower.   
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning VIII - Deflated**    
  


Buffy and Faith exchanged looks after the impromptu dance show was over. They watched for a little while longer, until he went back to work.   
  


"Did you see the way he just kinda deflated?" Faith asked as the two Slayer left the vampire's house. "Like someone told him his favorite fish was ate by a drunk frat bro?"   
  


"I saw," Buffy replied. And it had given her a lot to think about.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning IX - Waiting in Line**    
  


If Willow had to stand in one more line, she was going to use the magick spell she'd learned and turn everyone into newts, just so she could move to the front. Her feet hurt, her back hurt, her head hurt, and her fingers hurt from filling out form after form after form.   
  


**Where's Spike when I need him?** she thought. **He could have made the time pass by in the blink of his beautiful, ice-blue eyes.**   
  


She really, really missed him. And this was only the second day.   
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning X - Couldn't Sleep**    
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


Spike was on the floor.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


He couldn't sleep.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


He thought perhaps a little exercise would help.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


Five hours later, he was still awake.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


But it was the longest he'd ever stayed on one task.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


His muscles were actually burning from the repetition.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


Sweat coated his body in a fine sheen.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


Yet, he wasn't going to stop until he dropped from exertion...   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


...or Willow called.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


His arms bent, and he lowered himself until his nose almost touched the ground. Then he pushed himself back up, his arms shaking from the constant use.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


He really missed Willow.   
  


Up. Down. Up. Down.   
  


A lot.   
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning XI - I Hear A 'But'**    
  


Spike slid across the kitchen floor in his socks, crashing into the refrigerator in his rush to get the phone. Cursing, he snatched the receiver off the wall and rubbed his knee. "Hello?"   
  


"Hi," Willow greeted cheerfully from the other end of the line. "Found some money."   
  


"I told you that you could call collect, luv," Spike said. "I don't mind."   
  


"Well, I'll be getting a phone tomorrow, so it won't matter anyway," she replied. "Then I'll call you with the number. Oh, that reminds me, we should set a specific time to talk. I'm sure you have other things you'd rather do than sit around and wait."   
  


"Kitten, you left. I don't have anyone to do things with," Spike confessed quietly.   
  


Willow was silent for a moment. "Spike, I miss you, too."   
  


"I hear a 'but' in that," he said.   
  


"Yeah. There is," she replied. "You've been alive for two centuries now without having me as a friend. I don't want to feel like I'm bringing you down because I'm not there..."   
  


"You're not," Spike protested. "I just haven't readjusted to not having you around, that's all." **Liar.**   
  


"Well, ok then. But go out and do things," Willow told him. "And I'll go out and do college things and we'll miss each other, but in a good way. Not that not doing things with you is a good thing..."   
  


"Willow?"   
  


"Yeah?"   
  


"How does eleven sound?"   
  


"Perfect," Willow answered. "I'll call you tomorrow at eleven and then we'll alternate or something."   
  


"I'll be here," he said. "Now, tell me about your day. Mine was bloody repetitious."   
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning XII - An Audience**    
  


As promised, Spike went out with one of the books Willow had gotten him to practice reading. He tried to read in the house during the day, but it wasn't the same without the redhead sitting in the kitchen with him. He knew that he was getting pathetic and very much like his brooding sire, and he forced himself to remember what he did the entire time he'd been in Sunnydale before he'd caused Willow to faint in his arms.   
  


His paintball friends had returned to college as well, which meant most of them were gone, although a few went to the local university. He called and made plans to do a little late-night fishing with some of the guys on Sunday night. He'd also planned to purchase a computer to see what was so interesting about cyberspace.   
  


Heading into the park, Spike took a seat on one of the swings and smiled when he remembered pushing Willow. He'd loved the way her laughter rang out into the night, her hair flying about her face as she swung back and forth while standing on the swing. Then, the night before she left, they'd returned and the rain interrupted what he'd wanted to say. But that had led to something much better than words.   
  


His eyes moved towards the small shelter he and Willow had hid under while the rain poured down. He closed his eyes and felt the press of her lips against his, the softness of her mouth, the taste of sunshine he'd gotten when they kissed. He'd wanted to kiss her all summer, but was glad in the end that it happened when it did, because he'd gotten a chance to develop a strong friendship with a wonderful young woman. One that he missed deeply.   
  


Shaking off his sigh of depression, Spike opened his eyes and the book. He wrapped one arm around the chain of the swing, and pushed lightly with his toes as he began to slowly read. "'I am Sam. Sam I am. That Sam-I-am! That Sam-I-am! I do not like that Sam-I-am.'"   
  


Willow had told him that the rhyming books were the best learning tool, even if they did seem a little babyish. He didn't correct her in saying that, because he didn't want her to know that he enjoyed the books. They were fun. "'Do you like green' e-g, e-gs, eggs. 'Do you like green eggs and ham? I do not like them, Sam-I-am. I do not like green eggs and ham.'"   
  


Since the words were all similar on the page, Spike had to read slowly to catch each one, rather than glossing over them like he used to do, which was the exact reason why the redhead had chosen the books. Even then, some of the words were hard to puzzle out, despite the early level of Dr. Seuss. "Er, w-old, word? No. Oh, like kitten would say, duh. 'Would you like them here or there? I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them Sam-I-am.'"   
  


Spike looked up as he turned the page and froze. Standing in front of him were four little kids, dressed in shorts and t-shirts. "Aren't you the singing man?" one of the boys asked.   
  


"What?" Spike said, frowning in confusion.   
  


"At the fireworks," the boy said. "You know all the songs from the cartoons."   
  


Spike groaned mentally, but responded in a pleasant tone. "Yes, that was me."   
  


"What'cha doin' now?" a little girl asked.   
  


"Reading," he replied. He held up the cover of the book so they could see.   
  


"Can we listen?" a third asked.   
  


"Where's your mums?" Spike said. "It's late for you to be outside."   
  


"They're having a coffee-clutching," the fourth answered, pointing to a group of houses that lined the park.   
  


"Coffee-klatch?" Spike clarified. The girl nodded. "Do they know you came to the park?"   
  


"Yeah, we told them," the first boy replied. "Can we hear the story now?"   
  


Spike grinned inside. He always liked children, and not as something to eat. "Have a seat," he told them. "Now, I'm not very good at reading, so I'm going to go slow."   
  


"Are you prac-ting?" the third child asked. "Mrs. Kniel said prac-ting makes perfect."   
  


He chuckled. "Yes, I'm practicing. And Mrs. Kniel is correct. My teacher told me to practice, too."   
  


"Aren't you a little old to be in school?" the second asked.   
  


"I have a private teacher," he replied. "I didn't go to school when I was a boy, so I didn't learn how to read properly."   
  


"But you're learnin' now, right?" the first said.   
  


"Right," Spike agreed. He reopened his book and silently chuckled. He'd never read in front of an audience before. Willow would be proud that he would even dare to try. "Here we go. 'Would you like them in a' hoo-ss. How-ss. House. 'Would you like them in a house? Would you like them with a' er, 'mouse?'"   
  


The children were enraptured, despite his butchering of the words and he felt good about himself and his burgeoning ability. He couldn't wait until eleven to tell Willow all about it. "'I could not, would not, on a boat. I will not, will not, with a goat. I will not eat them in the rain. I will not eat them on a train. Not in the dark! Not in a tree! Not in a car! You let me be! I do not like them in a box. I do not like them with a fox. I will not eat them in a house. I do not like them with a mouse. I do not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere!'"   
  


Little did the blond vampire know, however, that he not only had children as an audience. On the other side of the bushes, sitting side by side, Faith and Buffy were listening with amused matching smiles.   
  


 

* * *

  


**Higher Learning XIII - Upperclassmen**

  
  
  
  


"What's going on?" Willow asked Lisa, as the tall girl opened their door and folded herself onto the floor between the doorframes.   
  


"Upperclassmen," Lisa answered, giving her a grin.   
  


"What are they doing?" the redhead inquired, setting down the notebook paper she was putting in a binder and joining the black dancer.   
  


"Moving in," Lisa said.   
  


"Those are boys," Willow hissed when she saw several males go by with bags and suitcases.   
  


"It's a co-ed dorm," Lisa said. She gave Willow a questioning look. "Didn't you know that?"   
  


"No!" Willow said, shaking her head violently. "I just put wherever for dorm choice."   
  


Lisa grinned again. "Then you're in for a treat. My sister was here two years ago and she loved it. She had hunky men living on either side of her and her roommate."   
  


Willow's eyes widened as a well-built, shaven-headed, black upperclassman walked by, carrying a trunk on his shoulder, his muscles bulging. "Oh goddess, I'm living with boys!"   
  


"Honey, you're not living with boys," Lisa said, leaning out the door to track the upperclassman with the trunk. "You're living with  _men_."   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning XIV - Living With Men**

  
  
  
  


Willow didn't know what to do other than stare at the upperclassmen that continuously walked by her door. There were forty rooms per floor in the dorm she was in, which had five floors total. Each floor had a lounge and two bathrooms, a women's and a men's. Willow had thought that the men's was there for convenience, not for men to shower and do other naked things in. Her parents would flip if they knew she was living with men. Luckily, she doubted they would ever visit or even ask. Sometimes having non-attentive parents was nice.   
  


**Oh goddess,** she thought, noticing the number of big  _men_  coming in and out of the various rooms. "Do we have the football team living on this floor?"   
  


"Now that would be nice," Lisa said.   
  


Willow blushed bright red as a very good-looking, dark-haired upperclassman paused at the room next door. He flashed a smile at her and winked before entering his room. "Did you see that?" she squealed to Lisa.   
  


"Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome winking at you?" Lisa teased. "Gotta love a man who can look that fine in a pair of specs."   
  


The redheaded witch was thinking the exact same thing.   
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

##### 

**Higher Learning XV - Floor Meeting**

#####    
  
  
  


Everyone was sitting in the hallway on the floor, crowded as close together as they could in front of the RA's, or Resident Assistant's, door. Sixty-three men and women of various ages, races, religions and sizes laughed and chatted together as they waited for the RA to begin the floor meeting.   
  


##### 

It was easy to tell who the freshmen were, for they tended to stick by those they'd met during orientation and were relatively quiet. Willow and Lisa, however, had struck up individual conversations with Hunk-with-the-Glasses and Hunk-with-the-Trunk, respectively.   
  


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"Architectural design," Tristan, the Hunk-who-also-lived-next-door, said to Willow. "I have two years left. What about you?"   
  


##### 

"Uh, the make-it and bake-it major," Willow replied, repeating what Lisa had said on Thursday.   
  


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"I never met someone who was able to get into that program before. Strict requirements and everything," Tristan said. "So, tell me, Willow, are you as smart as you are pretty?"   
  


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Willow blushed, but she replied, "No, I'm prettier. My rocket scientist IQ just can't match my beauty."   
  


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Tristan laughed, and the redhead noticed he had a great smile and dimples. Of course, she had noticed that earlier, but she was noticing it again because she was ever the observant girl. The Junior was tall and reminded her of the sexy guy from the khakis commercial, where he kept getting dunked in the water by his girlfriend. However, Tristan wore black, wire-rimmed glasses that seemed to emphasize his almost black eyes, rather than detract from them.   
  


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"If I can have your attention, ladies and boys," the RA, Jackson, said over the din of conversation. When everyone quieted, he continued. "Thanks. As you know, I am Jackson Reese, your RA for this year." Several people broke out into applause and others laughed. Jackson bowed, his dread-locks falling forward as he did so. "Thank you, thank you."   
  


##### 

"Hey, J.R.," someone called. "Nice tam!"   
  


##### 

The multicolored, handwoven, Jamaican tam that covered the top of Jackson's head bobbed when he nodded in thanks. "Alright, we have a few rules to go over," he said to the accompaniment of groans. "Rule number one, quiet hours begin at midnight Sunday through Thursday, two on Friday, Saturdays and the day before a holiday. That means, when my clock says twelve a.m., I expect the stereos to be down and the doors closed."   
  


##### 

"Someone reschedule the mattress jousting!"   
  


##### 

Jackson continued over the titters. "Rule number two, the alcohol policy. You all read the school rules concerning alcohol on campus..."   
  


##### 

"They make a great pillow!"   
  


##### 

"...but I know you'll ignore them," he said over the laughter. "The policy on my floor is this: if I don't see it, it's not there. Understand?"   
  


##### 

"Yes, J.R.," a small knot of football players chorused along with their cheerleader girlfriends.   
  


##### 

"There's is the party room for this dorm," Tristan whispered to Willow. "Keggers every Saturday night. A good place to avoid unless you're into cramming as many people into one room as you can."   
  


##### 

"Um, no," Willow whispered back.   
  


##### 

"Rule number three," Jackson said. "Overnight guests. Since this is a co-ed dorm and a co-ed floor, there are no rules against it. If your guest is going to be here for more than the weekend, be sure to get a guest pass from me so security won't tow their car come Monday morning. However, the rule stands against co-ed showers..."   
  


##### 

"Aaww," someone moaned in disappointment.   
  


##### 

"...So don't do it," Jackson said. "Keep the sex in the rooms and not in the showers. There are condom dispensers in both the men's and women's bathrooms, and I cannot emphasize enough -  _practice safe sex._ "   
  


##### 

Willow was as red as her hair as others joined in Jackson's 'practice safe sex' line. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't even say the word 'sex' and here she was being told to practice it and use the condom machine in the bathrooms. She hadn't even known it was a condom machine. She thought it was one of those sample perfume dispensers next to the sanitary products dispenser.   
  


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"Last rule, smoking - of anything," Jackson said. "In the rooms only. If I see it in the hallways or in the lounge, you're written up. And for each write up after two, you're fined. That's it for the rules." The applause was thunderous and he rolled his eyes. "Now for the fun part. There's going to be a Welcome Back dance on Friday in the ballroom, everyone's invited. And the football team is playing on Saturday at noon against Berkeley."   
  


##### 

"GO UCLA FOOTBALL!" the football players and cheerleaders yelled.   
  


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"That's it. Good luck in classes and if you need me, I live right here," Jackson told them, leaning back on his closed door with the white stenciled 'RA' on it.   
  


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Students stood and began meandering back to their rooms. Lisa grinned at Willow, then followed her hunk towards his room. Willow smiled at her new friend's good fortune.   
  


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"Well, I'm going to head to dinner," Tristan said, as they walked down towards the east end of the hall, where rooms 405 and 407 were located. He looked down and the hacker and asked, "Want to join me?"   
  


##### 

"Sure," Willow said, then blushed at the enthusiasm in her voice. "I just need to get my keys. And my ID. And leave a note for Lisa. Or do you think I should tell her? But I don't want to bother her with that guy she was with..."   
  


##### 

"Willow," Tristan laughed. "Just knock on my door when you're ready."   
  


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"'K," she replied, then went into her own room and shut the door. She leaned back against it and grinned like a idiot. "Wow. I'm going to dinner with a cute upperclassman. I like college."   
  
  
  


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* * *

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**Higher Learning XVI - Monday Night**

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"Hello?" Willow gasped.   
  


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"Is something the matter, luv?" Spike asked over the line, concern evident in his voice.   
  


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"Wrong?" she said. "No nothing's wrong. Oh! You're wondering why I sound like I ran a marathon. I was in the lounge and had to run a marathon to get the phone." She giggled. "I'm glad Lisa and I got a loud ringer, or I wouldn't have heard it at all."   
  


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"Ok then," he said, slumping back against the kitchen chair in relief. For an instant, he'd been worried that something had happened between talking to her on Saturday and that evening. "So, kitten, how was your first day of university?"   
  


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"Classes were...different," she replied. "I had English, World Civ and Calc today."   
  


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"Er, I understood English, but you already know how to speak that, pet," Spike said, confused. He supported the phone between his shoulder and ear, picked up a small screwdriver and began undoing the tiny screws on the back of a watch he'd found.   
  


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Willow giggled again. "English  _Literature_ ," she said. "And the others are World Civilization, which is a history class, and Calculus."   
  


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"Ah," he said. "That makes more sense."   
  


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"Well, it doesn't make dollars," she said.   
  


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Spike rolled his eyes and groaned. "That was just bloody pathetic, kitten."   
  


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"I know," Willow said.   
  


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"What classes do you have tomorrow?"   
  


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"A computer one and a science one," she answered. "The computer class is my only elective this semester. Everything else is required."   
  


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"How many requirements do you have before you can take anything you want?" Spike asked, interested because he'd never gone to school or had even heard about what it was like at universities.   
  


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"Twenty-one hours are required courses, then I have to choose six more in English, three in History and three in Humanities," Willow replied.   
  


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"I lied when I said you already knew how to speak English," he said. The back was off the watch and he was poking around inside with the small tool kit, trying to make the mechanism run.   
  


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"Ok, I'll explain it as best I can," she said. "One hour is equal to one credit. My English class is three hours this semester, so the class is worth three credits towards graduation. I need one-hundred and twenty credits to graduate."   
  


##### 

"So you have to take one-hundred twenty hours of classes?" Spike said. "Doesn't seem like much."   
  


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"It is when a three credit hour course means that it meets three times per week for one hour," Willow said. "And that's the whole semester. This one, I have five classes, which equals seventeen hours, because my computer class and science class both have labs and are four hours each."   
  


##### 

"That means you are in class seventeen hours per week, right?"   
  


##### 

"Right. The rest of the time I'm going to be studying or doing college stuff, like playing cards...Playing cards!" Willow exclaimed.   
  


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"I didn't realize it was that exciting of a game, kitten," Spike said.   
  


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"I was playing cards when the phone rang and it's probably my turn and I'm not there," she rushed out.   
  


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"Then I guess you'd better go," Spike told her, not happy that he'd only gotten to talk with her for ten minutes. He didn't even get a chance to tell her about the ridiculous-sized fish he'd caught the night before when he went fishing with the guys. "I'll talk to you tomorrow night."   
  


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"Yeah," Willow replied. Spike heard the phone being covered, then her saying, "I'm coming, Tris." Then the phone got clear again. "Spike, I gotta go. Tristan says Martin's going to look at my cards if I don't hurry up."   
  


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**Tristan and Martin?** he thought, jealousy rising inside of him. He forced himself not to let a trace of it in his voice. "Then you'd best hurry up, kitten. Have a good night."   
  


##### 

"I will," she said. "Bye."   
  


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"Bye," he replied, then sat there a moment after she'd hung up the phone. He reached over to the jack on the wall and hung up the receiver, then muttered, "And I miss you, too."   
  
  
  


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* * *

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Higher Learning XVII - Phone Days

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_Tuesday_   
  


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"Hello, LeesanWillsroom."   
  


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"Er, is Willow there?" Spike asked, wondering if he dialed the right number or not.   
  


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"She went to the snack bar with the guys. Can I take a message?"   
  


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"Yeah, tell her Spike called," he replied, disappointment coursing through him.   
  


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"Oh hey, I'm Lisa, Will's roommate," Lisa said cheerfully. "That girl couldn't stop talking about you during orientation."   
  


##### 

"And you are still on the line?" Spike joked, perking up at the news.   
  


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Lisa laughed. "Yeah, well, I already learned to take whatever that witch says with a grain of sourpatch kids. She can tell some stories. I'm surprised her nose isn't three feet long. Well, I'll tell her you called."   
  


##### 

"Thanks," he replied. "Bye."   
  


##### 

"Bye."   
  


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_Wednesday_    
  


##### 

"You've reached the black hole. Will and Lees have evaporated into nothingness. Leave a message if you believe the Enterprise will pick them up in the next millennia. Beep."   
  


##### 

"Willow, it's Spike. Give us a ring, alright?"   
  


##### 

_Thursday_    
  


##### 

"You've reached the black hole. Will and Lees have evaporated into nothingness. Leave a message if you believe the Enterprise will pick them up in the next millennia. Beep."   
  


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"Willow, it's Spike. Again. Ring me."   
  


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_Friday_    
  


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"You've reached..."   
  


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Click.   
  


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* * *

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**Higher Learning XVIII - Welcome Back Dance**

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The Welcome Back Dance was in full swing. A DJ was set up in one corner of the large ballroom, tables and chairs ran along the edges, and students packed the center, gyrating to the beat. The turnout for the dance was huge, everyone wanting to find old friends and check out the 'fresh meat.' Willow had been dragged out of bed, where she spent most of her time after classes, and prodded by Lisa to get dressed up for a night of loud music and foot-crushing fun.   
  


##### 

College life had take the redhead hostage and refused to ask for ransom. She got up ten minutes before class, threw some clothes and Spike's baseball cap on, and rushed out the door for a quick trek across campus -- with a brief stop at the coffee machine - to class. In between classes, she'd go to the library and do her homework, stopping only for lunch and to shower. When her last class was over for the day, she'd go back to her dorm room and sleep until dinner. Then she'd be apprehended by her new friends and did not set foot back in her room until close to three every morning. After that, she'd go to sleep and start all over again the next morning.   
  


##### 

And she'd only been at school for a week.   
  


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"Did you want to hit the snack bar after this?" Tristan asked Willow. Willow grinned and nodded. She launched into a goofy Xander-dance as a fast eighties song came on, laughing when her new friends joined in.   
  


##### 

There were six of them in the small group, including Willow. Tristan, her hunky next-door-neighbor; Martin, a tall, lanky, pale, red-headed math major complete with horned-rimmed glasses and pocket protector; Rafael, a drop-dead gorgeous Latino that oozed sexual charm and made Willow want to learn Spanish; Jason, a stereotypical computer science major, who wore ratty clothing, drank too much coffee, and was awake close to twenty-four hours per day; and Shay Lin, a soft-spoken, petite, Asian, senior, entemology major, who had different bug tattoos almost all over her body.   
  


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Every once in awhile, Willow would see Lisa. The roommates had already formed separate friendships, but the two groups intermingled often. It helped that almost everyone lived in the same dorm and the floor lounges were  _the_  place to be during the week.   
  


##### 

The song ended and Willow followed Tristan out of the ballroom. "Goddess, I don't think I'll ever hear anything again."   
  


##### 

"What?" Tristan mocked, cupping his hand to his ear.   
  


##### 

"Very funny," Willow scowled at him. They headed for the basement of the Halas Student Union building, were the snack bar was located, Jason and Shay Lin trailing behind them.   
  


##### 

"Hey Will," Jason said. "Are you staying on campus this weekend?"   
  


##### 

"Why wouldn't I?" Willow asked him.   
  


##### 

"Some people go home on the weekends," Shay Lin explained. "Especially those who live close by."   
  


##### 

"And the frogs," Jason added.   
  


##### 

"I still can't believe I'm called a frog," Willow said. "I'm afraid of the slimy amphibians. Blech."   
  


##### 

"Hey Dave," Tristan greeted the student behind the snack bar counter. "The usual."   
  


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"Hi Dave," Willow said cheerfully.   
  


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"Howdy, Will," Dave replied, adjusting his glasses nervously. The short, stocky brunette gave her a shy smile, then turned to prepare the gang's food.   
  


##### 

"You know what we can do tomorrow?" Shay Lin said as they took their usual table in the mostly empty snack bar. The official name of the friends' hangout was the Halas Union Bistro and it was one of the least popular places to gather on campus. Which made it perfect.   
  


##### 

"What Shay?" Jason asked.   
  


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"Fountain run," Shay Lin replied. She turned to Willow. "You brought your swimsuit, right?"   
  


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"I think so," Willow said.   
  


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"Fountain run!" Jason exclaimed, banging on the table like it was a set of drums.   
  


##### 

Willow looked at Tristan for explanation. "Basically, we run around like idiots between Carver Fountain, McCaby Fountain and the pond," he told her. "The only purpose is to get wet in this hot weather."   
  


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"That sounds fun," Willow said, grinning enthusiastically.   
  


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"Food's up," Dave called to them.   
  


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"It's my turn," Jason groaned, standing to retrieve and pay for their food.   
  


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Rafael and Martin entered as Jason returned to the table, yelling out their orders to Dave. They took the last two seats at the table. "What are we speaking about?" Rafael asked.   
  


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"Fountain run," Tristan answered, eating a french fry. "Tomorrow."   
  


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"I will be there," Rafael said.   
  


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"Don't wear your Speedos this time, Rafe," Jason said.   
  


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"A girl almost drowned in her own drool because of him," Shay Lin whispered to Willow.   
  


##### 

"I could see that happening," Willow replied quietly. The two giggled.   
  


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"The ladies, however," Jason continued with a leer. "Feel free to wear as little as possible."   
  


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Willow blushed and Shay Lin laughed. "I bet Martin is going to want to count my bugs again," Shay Lin said.   
  


##### 

"Have you gotten more?" Martin asked, a mathematical gleam in his eyes.   
  


##### 

"You'll have to count and find out for yourself," she replied with a wink.   
  


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"I bet you look gorgeous in a swimsuit," Tristan whispered to Willow at the same time.   
  


##### 

The redhead's blush grew deeper and she pushed her fries around the basket. She lifter her head and gave him a nervous smile. Then her mouth slowly dropped open as someone standing near the doors caught her eye. Black Doc Martins. Black jeans. Black t-shirt. Leather duster. Cheekbones. Piercing blue eyes. Scar. Peroxide-blond hair. Attitude she could feel from where she was sitting.   
  


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"Will, what's wrong?" Tristan asked, concern lacing his voice. He and the others were looking back and forth between the redhead and the newcomer.   
  


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Rising from her chair, she walked slowly across the small room until she was two feet away. Eyes-wide, she whispered questioningly, "Spike?"   
  


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"In the undead flesh, pet," Spike said, sardonic smirk curling his lips up.   
  


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Willow let out a loud squeal and launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his waist under his duster and hugged him tightly. "Oh goddess, you're here! It's so good to feel you!"   
  


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Spike hugged her back lightly. "It's good to feel you, too, kitten."   
  


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Willow released him and took a step back with an embarrassed blush. "I meant see."   
  


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Spike smirked, his eyes dropping to focus on the area covered with a short-sleeve t-shirt with a cartoon cat on it. "I didn't."   
  


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She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, wary from his actions. He seemed standoffish, reminiscent of their pre-friendship days. "What are you doing here?" she asked.   
  


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He shrugged. "I was in the neighborhood. Thought I'd stop."   
  


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"Hey Will! Fries are getting eaten!" Martin called.   
  


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"Will you...are you going to stay awhile?" Willow asked timidly.   
  


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"Doubt it," Spike replied, glancing past her with a bored expression on his face.   
  


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"Oh," she said, disappointed.   
  


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"Well, can't say it's been fun," he said, returning his gaze to her. His eyes were very cold and uncaring. "I have places to go, people to kill, drained bodies to leave on the street."   
  


##### 

"You're feeding from humans again?" Willow asked, unbelievingly. "But I thought you'd stopped?"   
  


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"Things change," Spike said with another shrug. "If you'd rang me back, you would've known that."   
  


##### 

"Rang you back?" she said, confusion in her voice.   
  


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Spike sighed heavily. "That telephone thing, where you call a bloke back when he rings you and leaves a bloody message."   
  


##### 

"What message?"   
  


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He growled. "Are you daft? I left friggin' messages on your bleedin' machine and with that roommate of yours all week. But I gather I'm not important enough to warrant common courtesy."   
  


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He spun and went to storm out of the snack bar, but Willow was too fast. Using her magick, she slammed the doors shut in front of his nose. He turned and glared at her, his nostrils flaring in anger. "Open the doors, pet," he ground out.   
  


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"No," Willow replied, stalking to him, her own temper growing.   
  


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Spike narrowed his eyes. "No?"   
  


##### 

"Guess you don't need to get your hearing checked," she mocked.   
  


##### 

"Watch it, luv," he warned.   
  


##### 

"No, you watch it," she said. She poked him in the chest. "I don't know what your problem is, but you'd better end the Mister Big Bad Vampire attitude before I get really mad."   
  


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" _I_  have the attitude?" Spike said incredulously. "You're the one who can't even take the bloody time to call me back."   
  


##### 

"I never knew you called!" Willow exclaimed.   
  


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"Is everything ok, Will?" Tristan asked, coming up behind her.   
  


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Willow turned and saw her friends watching with interest and Tristan's glare at Spike. "I'm fine," she reassured him. "We'll be right over. Don't let Martin eat all my fries."   
  


##### 

Tristan dropped his eyes to her and studied her for a moment, then nodded and returned to the table. Willow faced Spike again and saw he was staring intently at Tristan's retreating back. "Spike, I would have called you back if I had known you'd called."   
  


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Spike looked down at her, frowning. "Who's that?"   
  


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"Tris?" Willow said. "He's a friend."   
  


##### 

"You probably call him back," the vampire muttered.   
  


##### 

"I don't have to, he lives next door," she said. "And I told you I would have called you back if I knew you called to begin with. I planned on calling you Sunday afternoon so we could have a bunch of time and I didn't have to worry about being distracted. But now that you're here, I don't have to call. Unless you're not staying. If you're not, then I'll call."   
  


##### 

"I don't know yet," Spike told her. "Can I be honest with you?"   
  


##### 

"If you ever ask me that again, I'll turn you into the first vampire newt ever," Willow said.   
  


##### 

He gave her a lopsided grin. "Sorry, kitten. Dumb question." He held out his hand. "Walk with me?"   
  


##### 

"I'd love to," she replied. She looked over her shoulder and called, "Be back soon, guys." Then she took Spike's hands and they went through the doors she'd released.   
  


##### 

The music from the dance drifted down to them from the first floor as they headed up the stairs. Once outside, Spike led Willow away from the Student Union building, quietly walking beside her, holding her hand. "I missed you," he finally said.   
  


##### 

"I missed you, too," Willow told him immediately. "I wear your hat every day. Some of the baseball players in my classes are jealous."   
  


##### 

"Hopefully it won't disintegrate on you," Spike said. "I got it in 1958."   
  


##### 

"Wow," she said. "Oh wow. I don't know if I should keep wearing it, then. It should be in a museum."   
  


##### 

"No, wear it," he said quickly. "I'll dig up another one from somewhere in my car and donate it for you."   
  


##### 

"Spike, what's wrong?" Willow asked, not wanting to wait any longer for him to explain his strange behavior.   
  


##### 

He was silent for a few moments, then started to speak quietly. "I'm going to sound like a bloody nancyboy when I say this, but you weren't there when I called and I wanted to hear your voice," he confessed slowly. "I wanted to tell you about the Slayers and how I think they've been following me around, I wanted to ask you how to purchase one of those computers like you have and right now I want to stop whining like a wanker, so I'll shut up."   
  


##### 

"Oh Spike, I'm sorry," she said, stopping their walk in order to hug him. "I made some new friends that I've been busy getting to know better and I've neglected you in the process. I'm a bad person. I'm evil. Like you. Before you were not-so-evil to me. But I'm bad."   
  


##### 

"It's ok, luv," Spike said, hugging her back. "I think the older I get, the more I'm like my idiot sire. I've started to brood and everything. It's friggin' awful."   
  


##### 

"Like father, like childe," Willow teased, looking up at him with a grin.   
  


##### 

"Promise me you'll turn me into the first vampire newt if I ever become him," Spike begged.   
  


##### 

"I promise." She impulsively went up on her toes and kissed him on the lips. "I really did miss you," she whispered, blushing at her forwardness.   
  


##### 

"Cor, Willow, I missed you, too," he replied. "So bloody much."   
  


##### 

"Stay?" Willow asked.   
  


##### 

"I already got a room at that place we stayed during the nerdology convention," he told her sheepishly.   
  


##### 

Willow laughed as she stepped away from him, then she took his hand again. "Come on, I want to introduce you to everyone. I know Shay's been dying to meet you."   
  


##### 

"Um, kitten, that's not something you should say to a vampire," Spike told her with a smile. "Especially me."   
  


##### 

"No munching on my friends allowed," she told him firmly. "Or newt-vamp you will be." 

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	3. Chapter 3

**Higher Learning XIX - Meeting the Friends**    
  


"Everybody, this is my...," Willow trailed off. **My what? Best friend? Playmate? Can't wait to see him naked companion? Oh, I like that last one. No, bad Willow,** she thought. "This is Spike." She gave the vampire a grin. "Spike, these are my friends. Tristan, Martin, Rafael, Jason and Shay Lin."   
  
"Hello," Spike greeted in a somewhat aloof manner.   
  
Willow dropped his hand and pushed him into her chair, then sat on his knee. She felt his hands wrap around her waist, sending tingles throughout her, like his touch always seemed to do. She had missed it.   
  
"So, Spike," Tristan said. "How do you know our Will?"   
  
Spike's cool, blue gaze turned on the Junior. "We're friends," he said in an intimidating tone. " _Good_  friends."   
  
"Martin, you ate all my fries," Willow chastised, oblivious to the territoriality of the two males. She stood and headed over to Dave to reorder.   
  
"What school do you go to?" Shay Lin asked. "Unless you already graduated?"   
  
"Based on his height and bone structure, one can successfully measure an approximate age," Martin said in mathematical glee. "I would calculate that Will's friend is twenty-two, plus or minus two."   
  
Spike bit back his laugh at the nerd with the hornrims assessment. **Add another century and three-quarters and you'd be getting close,** he thought. "I didn't go to university."   
  
"You went the tech route, eh?" Jason said.   
  
"The what?" Spike asked. He looked past Tristan to where Willow was talking with the short, stocky guy behind the counter.   
  
"You know, trade school in high school?" Jason said. "Where you learned how to do things for the 'real world'?"   
  
**That's my cap in her back pocket,** Spike thought. **To be that cap...woah, mate, get your thoughts out of her pocket.** Suddenly his view of Willow was blocked as Tristan shifted in his seat. He found himself staring into the hard, dark eyes of the student behind his glasses.   
  
"Do you have an answer for Jason, or are you too busy ogling Will to pay attention?" Tristan scowled.   
  
Spike narrowed his eyes. "I didn't go to secondary school," he said in a even tone. "I didn't go to primary school all that bloody much either. I'm a mite bit older than twenty-two, plus or minus two. I don't have a job because I've got more money than I could ever spend. Willow is my best friend and we've known each other for awhile. My favorite color is red and I drive a 1959 De Soto FireFlite . Now, do you want to pry into my life any more, or are you through, mate?"   
  
An uncomfortable hush settled over the table, with Tristan and Spike glaring at each other while the other four concentrated on their food baskets.   
  
"Hey, guys! Dave's got leftover onion rings made, if we want them," Willow called over to the table.   
  
"Free food!" Jason exclaimed, breaking the tension.   
  
Tristan broke eye contact with Spike first and stood. "I'm think I'm gonna head back upstairs."   
  
"K, man," Jason said.   
  
"Later," Tristan said, then left.   
  
Willow came over with a large basket of onion rings, which she set in the middle of the table with a frown. "Where'd Tris go?"   
  
"He left," Rafael said.   
  
"Oh," Willow said, taking her friend's abandoned chair. "It wasn't the onion rings, was it?"   
  
  
  


 

* * *

 **Higher Learning XX - The Other Friends' Opinions**    
  
  
  


Spike redeemed his callous behavior in Willow's other friends' eyes once the redhead returned. They all saw how much he obviously liked her and, with that in mind, the men quickly understood his terse words to Tristan. They were already making secretive bets as to who would get Willow first, their friend or the newcomer.   
  


It was tough odds. On the one hand, Spike shared history with Willow and they had a familiarity that showed how close their friendship was. On the other, Tristan lived next door to her and saw her every day. Proximity normally won over history, so the odds were in the dark-haired Junior's favor.   
  


Shay Lin had the woman's perspective. Two men were going to be fighting over her redheaded friend. It was very romantic, as long as it didn't come to Willow's attention. If she caught wind of what was happening, her independent 'I am not property' hackles would be raised, and no one would get the girl. Shay would react the same way, but seeing it happening from an outsider's perspective, she'd stick with her first reaction - it was very romantic.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

 **Higher Learning XXI - Would You Like To Join Us?**    
  
  
  


"We're going on a fountain run tomorrow," Shay Lin said to Spike.   
  


"Fountain run!" Jason exclaimed, drumming on the table once again.   
  


"Would you like to join us?" Shay Lin continued, ignoring Jason.   
  


"Do what?" Spike asked, a confused frown marring his brow.   
  


"Ooh, can't, the sun...ny days, sweeping our clouds away," Willow said, changing what she was going to say mid-sentence. Spike turned his confused look on her. "Spike has to work during the  _day_  tomorrow. All  _day_. Until after sunset. Right, Spike?"   
  


"Right," Spike agreed, catching on.   
  


"I thought you said you didn't have a job?" Martin pointed out.   
  


"Er, right, I don't," Spike said. "I, um..."   
  


"Volunteer," Willow lied quickly. "At the, uh, the...blood bank."   
  


Spike and Willow looked at one another, then burst out laughing. The four others at the table wondered what the joke was and they exchanged shrugs as the two calmed down.   
  


"Oh goddess, I'm sorry," Willow said, wiping the tears from her eyes.   
  


Spike shot her a grin. "Sometimes I help out at the morgue, too."   
  


Willow started giggling again. "How about at those nights at the cemetery?"   
  


"You hang around with the dead?" Martin asked.   
  


The redhead snorted and quickly stuffed her mouth with fries. Spike smirked. "We have a lot in common."   
  


"Spike!" Willow gulped. She started choking on the fries.   
  


The blond vampire rubbed her back. "Are you ok, kitten?"   
  


"Yeah," she said, calming down. She looked up at her other friends. "Ignore him. Please. He's just kidding. Yeah. He's a kidder. A laugh a minute."   
  


"If you say so, Will," Jason said.   
  


"Why do we not do the fountain run after Spike is done with his volunteering?" Rafael asked.   
  


"Can we do that?" Willow said. "The fountain run at night?"   
  


"Well, there's a new thing called a 'light post' and they hold these bright...," Jason started to say.   
  


"Yes, we can go at night," Martin interrupted, tossing an onion ring at Jason.   
  


"Then let's do that," Willow said. She grinned at Spike. "I think I'm going to help Spike tomorrow during the day, anyway. If that's ok with you?"   
  


A slow smile crept across Spike's face. "I think that can be arranged, kitten."   
  


"Then we'll meet in the lounge at what? Sevenish?" Shay Lin asked.   
  


"Sounds good," Jason agreed. "Don't forget to tell Tristan the C.O.P."   
  


"Ok. Well, we're gonna go then," Willow said, standing. Spike stood as well, still looking intimidating in his all black and his 'bad boy' air. "Night."   
  


"Night, Will," Shay Lin said. "See you two tomorrow."   
  


"Bye Will," both Jason and Martin said at once.   
  


"Good night," Rafael added.   
  


Willow snagged one more fry, waved at her friends, then left with Spike beside her.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

 

**Higher Learning XXII - Can I Cut In?**

  
  
  
  


"Ooh, I like this song!" Willow exclaimed as they headed out of the snack bar and up the stairs. "Come on." She grabbed Spike's hand and half-dragged him up to the second floor, where the ballroom was located and the Welcome Back Dance was still hopping.   
  


Spike grumbled, good-natured. They entered the still crowded ballroom and Willow wove her way into the dancing students, then turned and grinned at him. Without saying anything, she grabbed his hands up in the classic dance position and stepped on his feet. He chuckled and began a quick two-step to the beat.   
  


When the song ended, a slower song cued up and Spike felt a tap on his shoulder. Tristan came along side of them and smiled at Willow. "Can I cut in for one more dance?"   
  


"No," Spike growled at the same time Willow said, "Sure!"   
  


Pursing his lips, he glared at Tristan as Willow moved out of his arms and into the dark-haired student's. Tristan smirked triumphantly over Willow's head at him and, for the first time in months, Spike had the undeniable urge to gut someone with his bare hands. Turning, he made his way out of the crowd of dancers to the wall near the door. Once there, he leaned back against it, crossing his arms over his chest and one foot over the other.   
  


Those that went to pass him gave the vampire wide berth because of the dangerous vibes radiating off of him, despite the casualness of his pose.   
  


And that night, they locked their windows and doors.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

 **Higher Learning XXIII - Breaking and Entering**    
  
  
  


"Will you hurry up?"   
  


"Hey, you're the one who didn't want to break in the door," Faith told Buffy. She wiggled the pin in the lock and heard a distinctive click. "We're in."   
  


The two girls crept into the dark garage of a certain blond vampire they had been unable to find that night on patrol. Faith hit the light next to the door. "Looks like he flew the coop," the brunette Slayer said upon finding the garage empty. "Maybe he had a hot date."   
  


"Or maybe he went to see Willow," Buffy said. "I need to call Angel." Faith headed for the connecting door between the garage and the house. "Faith, what are you doing?"   
  


"I'm gonna check out Blondie's pad," Faith replied. She tried the knob and found it unlocked. With a grin, she opened the door. "Coming?"   
  


"But that's breaking and entering," Buffy told her.   
  


"And what do you think jimmying the lock on the garage door was?" Faith asked. "I'm going in. You can be little Miss Goody Two-Shoes and stay here."   
  


Faith entered the house and, after a brief moment, Buffy followed her. "I can call Angel faster from here," she said to her sister Slayer.   
  


"You do that," Faith said, turning on the kitchen light. She headed straight for the refrigerator as Buffy went for the phone. "Hey, B, check it out." She took out a can of Pillsbury Grands. "Cinnamon rolls."   
  


"Spike has cinnamon rolls in his fridge?" Buffy said unbelievingly.   
  


"The fridge is stocked," Faith told her. She closed the door and opened the freezer. "So's the deep freeze. Think he'd miss it if I scarfed the strawberry ice cream?"   
  


"Don't eat anything," Buffy warned. She quickly dialed the familiar numbers and waited for Angel to pick up.   
  


"Hello?"   
  


"Angel, it's me," Buffy said into the receiver.   
  


"Buffy?"   
  


"No, it's your other girlfriend," Buffy teased.   
  


"Oh, well, I'm going to have to go then. I'm expecting a call from Buffy," Angel replied over the line.   
  


"Funny," Buffy said.   
  


"Did you just call to talk or something more?" Angel asked.   
  


"Something more," Buffy replied. "I told you that Willow's friend Billy was Spike, right?"   
  


"WHAT?!"   
  


Buffy cringed and held the phone away from her ear. "Um, oops. I guess not."   
  


"Spike! Willow is hanging around with  _Spike_?! I'll kill him," Angel growled.   
  


"No!" Buffy exclaimed.   
  


"No?" Angel said incredulously. " _No_?"   
  


"You can't," she said. "He's Willow's friend and if we kill him, she'll be hurt."   
  


"She could be hurt with Spike!"   
  


"Duh," Buffy said. "That's why we've been keeping an eye on him. So far, he hasn't done anything for me to justifiably dust him. In fact, he's done everything but act like a vampire this past week and a half."   
  


"I am still going to beat that boy," he growled again. "I'm going to put him in his place...I think I have those chains..."   
  


"Angel," Buffy interrupted. "Pull your mind back from the demon and listen."   
  


"Sorry," Angel apologized.   
  


"Ok. Spike's not here. Faith and I think he went down to see Willow. Would you swing by and just keep an eye out. Do  _not_  do anything unless Spike's harming her, got it?"   
  


"Yeah," Angel said, disappointment in his voice.   
  


"Angel-"   
  


"I won't," he said. "I promise."   
  


"Good," Buffy said. "I have to go before Faith steals something. Love you."   
  


"I love you, too," Angel replied softly. "Be careful."   
  


"Always," she said. "Bye."   
  


"Bye."   
  


Buffy hung up and went in search of Faith, who had left the kitchen after snooping through all the cabinets. She found the brunette Slayer in the living room, poking through the video collection on the shelves of the entertainment center.   
  


"B, this vamp has a serious mouse fixation," Faith commented, gesturing to the movies. " _Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Black Caldron, Cinderella_...damn, they're all in alphabetical order. Blondie's an anal SOB."   
  


Buffy ran her finger over the surface of a shelf and looked at it. "No dust, either," she said. She looked around at the perfectly stacked magazines on the coffee table, the neatly placed pen and pad of paper on the end table with the television remote set precisely next to them. Even the blanket on the back of the couch was perfectly placed. A tiny vase of violets adorned the opposite end table. "You're right. Spike's a neat-freak. This is worse than visiting Angel."   
  


"Come on, let's go check out the boudoir," Faith said, heading for the hallway. The blond Slayer looked curiously at a glass figurine of the Magic Kingdom sitting in front of the videos, then trailed after Faith.   
  


The girls poked their nose in a bedroom with a twin bed, small dresser and nothing else. The bathroom across the hall from that bedroom had nothing special in it. There was only neatly hanging towels, navy blue shower curtain, and shell-shaped soap in a shell-shaped dish on the sink. The linen closet they passed held perfectly folded sheets and towels, with one shelf reserved for first aid supplies.   
  


"Doesn't this vamp have a single thing out of place?" Faith asked as they continued on to the last open door. They both exchanged glances with they entered the master bedroom. "He even makes the bed."   
  


Faith headed for the closet and Buffy headed for the framed pictures arranged artistically on one dresser. The first was Spike dressed in camouflage standing with a group of people she'd never seen before, all similarly dressed in fatigues. The second was one of Willow and Spike, both in fatigues and holding the guns they'd used to play paintball.   
  


Faith snorted and Buffy looked over at her. "I think the bleached one has a serious problem," she said, gesturing to the clothes hanging neatly in the closet -- pants on one side, shirts on the other.

Buffy rolled her eyes and returned to the pictures as Faith began to rearrange the clothing.   
  


The third picture on the dresser was a close-up of Spike and Willow, smiling happily at the camera, their heads close together. Buffy was slightly surprised. She'd never seen a happy vampire before, unless they were killing someone.   
  


The last frame didn't hold a picture at all. Instead, it held a miniature certificate that teachers gave out in grade school. It was hand colored and had little gold stars decorating it. "This is to certify that Spike has passed Level One reading. Willow Rosenberg, Super Teacher," Buffy read aloud.   
  


"Hottie-vamp's got a pic of Red on his night-stand," Faith said. "And she's quite the looker in it."   
  


Buffy walked over to Faith and looked at the photo. She'd never seen it before, but the brunette was correct, Willow did look beautiful in it. Her red hair was free around her face and her head was tilted slightly to one side for the camera. Her eyes were alight with happiness and she had a small smile on her face.   
  


She noticed a pile of large, colorful books on the night-stand next to the photo. Picking up the top one, she read the title aloud. " _Horton Lays an Egg_?"   
  


"And  _The Cat in the Hat_ ," Faith said, looking at the spines. "These are all Dr. Seuss books."   
  


The phone rang and both girls jumped, Buffy dropping the book in her hand. She quickly picked it up and put it on the pile, then gave Faith a look. "We so need to get out of here."   
  


"I wanna hear the message first," Faith said, pointing to the answering machine on the other night-stand.   
  


"Fine, but then we are gone," Buffy said.   
  


The phone rang another time, then the machine picked up. "If you don't know what to do, you need to join the bloody nineties," Spike's voice announced to the room and the person on the phone. Faith hooted in laughter and Buffy shook her head as the beep sounded.   
  


"Spike, it's Aaron. Just calling to see how things with you and the witch are going. Should I start calling you Old MacDonald or did you decide to play Avenger? Well, give me a buzz whenever. Brigid's got me learning needlepoint tomorrow. Don't laugh, you old coot. Pretty soon the same thing is going to happen to you and you'll wonder when in Satan's name you stopped being a vampire and started acting like a human. And if the witch is even half as wonderful as you described her -- for hours on end - you're going to be wearing an apron and crocheting potholders before you can blink. Ciao."   
  


"Vampire?" Faith asked.   
  


"Sounded like it," Buffy replied.   
  


"I wonder what the Old Mac and Avenger was about," the brunette Slayer said as they headed out of the bedroom.   
  


"Well, Old MacDonald had a farm..."   
  


"E-I-E-I-O."   
  
  
  


 

* * *

 

**Higher Learning XXIV - Rude Much?**

  
  
  
  


Cordelia looked up when the door to Angel's office opened.   
  


"Hey, Angel. Do you think...," she trailed off as the dark-haired vampire stalked right past her and out of the agency without a word.   
  


She sniffed, offended. "Rude much?"   
  
  
  


 

* * *

**Higher Learning XXV - The Door**

  
  
  
  


"Well, this is me," Willow said, glancing at the vampire standing slightly behind her as she tapped her key on her dorm room door.   
  


She never understood how someone could have a face 'like forty miles of bad road' until she looked at him. The other students they'd passed on the walk back from Halas and in her dorm quickened their steps and gave them wide berth. If he didn't look so dangerous, she'd find their actions funny.   
  


"Um, are we going to go back to the hotel now, or do you want to hang here for awhile?" Willow asked, turning around to face him fully, keys still in her hand.   
  


"You're staying here, I'm going back," Spike told her in a hard voice.   
  


"What? But I thought..." Willow looked at him in confusion. "Wasn't the plan for me to go with you?"   
  


Spike stepped forward and, because of the gleam in his eyes, Willow stepped back reflexively. The hard wood of the door against her back did nothing to reassure her. Instead, for the first time since she'd been friends with him, she felt trapped.   
  


She swallowed when he put his hand flat on the door next to her head, and her eyes grew fright-filled when he leaned closer, his face stopping only a few inches away. A dangerous light was in his blue eyes and she clutched at the cross on her key-chain. "S-Spike?"   
  


"If I stay," Spike said, his voice low and rough. "I am going to take you so bloody hard up against this door, you won't be able to walk for a week."   
  


Willow's eyes grew huge at his words.   
  


"If you come with me," he continued in the same low tone. "I won't be able to control myself."   
  


"Oh goddess," she breathed. He leaned forward more and she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he abruptly pushed away from the door and took a step away from her.   
  


"Room 214," Spike said. Voices floated up the hallway and he turned his head in a slow, predatorily manner. His eyes narrowed and Willow could practically feel the demon just under the surface of his control. "And tell that bloody pillock to..."   
  


Spike stopped speaking and stared intently at her. Then he turned and left without another word.

Willow watched him until he went into the stairwell and she slumped against the door. "Oh goddess, oh goddess, oh goddess," she repeated, bringing up her hands to her heated cheeks.   
  


"Hey Will," Tristan said, stopping at the door next to hers. "Where's your 'friend'?"   
  


"He, uh, that is, he, er, left." Willow turned to her door and tried to insert her key, but her hand was shaking too badly. She glanced at the wood and her eyes widened again. Against the door...   
  


"Well, we're getting together in a few minutes for an after dance party," Tristan said. He leaned against one shoulder on his door. "Would you like to join us?"   
  


She turned to her friend and opened her mouth to answer, then snapped is shut again. She didn't think she'd do too well at a party right then, but to be alone, in her room, looking at the door... "Yes!" she all but shouted.   
  


Tristan straightened with a smile on his face, but it slowly disappeared as he looked past her shoulder. "Are you looking for someone, sir?"   
  


"I found her."   
  


Willow gasped when she heard the familiar voice and she turned around quickly. "Angel!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the dark-haired vampire in an enthusiastic hug. "What are you doing here? This is so great! Two surprises in one night..."   
  


She trailed off when she realized that she'd had  _three_  surprises that night. Her eyes involuntarily turned back to her door. The very door Spike wanted to... **Oh goddess.** She quickly looked up at Angel.   
  


"It's good to see you, too, Willow," Angel said. He gave a dismissive glance at Tristan, then looked down into the redhead's upturned face. "We need to talk."   
  
  
  


 

* * *

**Higher Learning XXVI - Turmoil**  

 

Spike stared out the window of the twenty-four hour restaurant, ignoring the strange conversations of the drunk university students going on around him. There was a cup of coffee on the table in front of him, the same cup that had been there for two hours. Next to it was a full ashtray and two packs of cigarettes, one empty, one half-full. A silver Zippo lighter was sitting on top of the half-full pack. 

Between the fingers of his left hand was a lit cigarette, the cherry in danger of falling off and ashing on him. Smoke curled up from it, dissipating in the air above him. Some of the students stopped their conversations to marvel at the reflection of the smoke in the window, but not the man who held the cigarette. 

Spike brought the cigarette to his mouth and took a pull on it, allowing the smoke to curl in his dead lungs. With a well-practiced gesture, he flicked the bottom of the cigarette and the cherry fell into the ashtray. Exhaling, he returned his gaze to the window, all of his smooth, controlled moments belying the turmoil in his mind. 

He had put Willow in danger earlier. Despite his human-like behaviorism and interests, he was still a demon, and when the whelp had given him a challenge for the redhead, his instincts of possessiveness flared. Although he did desire her, he hadn't wanted to take Willow against the door because he was aroused beyond reason. Instead, he wanted to mark her, to claim her, to make his possession known to the boy. Anger and territoriality had been his motivation, not want and need. 

Willow did not deserve to be treated like that, especially since he knew her to be a virgin. Taking her hard and violently against a door would be different if she were a vampire, but she wasn't and he didn't want her as one. He liked her warmth and innocence and her beautiful soul, all of which would be gone if she was like him. Yes, she had her dark and naughty side, probably equal to that of any vampire, but it would never be tinged with cruelty or viciousness as long as she was human. 

Somehow he was going to have to explain that to her. He knew she wouldn't be put off by a simple "I was horny." He'd wager if he said that, he'd be on the receiving end of some of her new magickal abilities. He didn't want their friendship to become awkward, because he valued what they had more than anything. He hadn't felt as close to anyone as he was to Willow since he was human himself and he liked the feeling. If that made him a soft, old coot, so be it. 

Crushing out his cigarette, he quickly downed the cold coffee and tossed a ten on the table. He scooped up his lighter and half-full pack of cigarettes and made his way back to the hotel. 

Once there, he stripped down and grabbed the remote for the television. Lighting up another cigarette, he flipped through the channels until he found a late-night movie on the free cable stations. Setting the remote down, he grabbed the ashtray off the night-stand and set it on the bed beside him, then proceeded to relieve his tension to the moans and writhing bodies on the screen. 

A certain redhead's name tumbled from his lips and her image was behind his closed eyelids when he climaxed.

 

* * *

**Higher Learning XXVII - Tristan Allen Montgomery**

  
  


Tristan Allen Montgomery grew up in a small California town just like most of the students at UCLA. His hobbies throughout life included surfing, swimming and building structurally perfect sandcastles. He knew he wanted to be an architect when he took an architectural design class in junior high school. The idea of coming up with new and interesting homes had fueled his academic drive.   
  


He had a great family, with two parents who obviously still loved each other and two sisters, one older, one younger. He had grown out of his shyness when he had joined the swim team in high school. Parading around in Speedos could do that to anyone. He'd had a few girlfriends, nothing lasting, because none of them had the girl-next-door quality he was searching for in a long-term relationship.   
  


Now, at 21-years of age, he'd found someone with those qualities.   
  


And she just happened to live right next door.   
  


He was smitten with the redheaded hacker-cum-witch. She exuded both shyness and boldness that would normally would not occur simultaneously in a person. She was also beautiful, with luminous green eyes that flashed with silver specks when she got angry, a cute little nose and a perfect figure with abs that made him stutter when her shirt rode up.   
  


He had thought he'd had it made. The wonderful freshman and the not-too-bad-looking upperclassman find romance among the halls of academia. It was something right out of the movies. He'd planned to take his time and woo her, just like an old-fashioned gentleman would do.   
  


Then he'd met her "good friend," Spike.   
  


Tristan wanted to punch the bleached-jerk's lights out the second he stepped into the snack bar. Spike looked exactly like one of those punks he went to high school with, who were in all the moron classes and ditched as often as possible. The ones who liked to beat up anyone who dared to look at them. The ones who partied hard -- drinking, smoking and doing drugs while destroying everything in sight.   
  


He knew he had a skewed, stereotypical and possibly unfair view of those people, but something about Spike had struck a nerve within him. One that said "danger" to both himself and Will.   
  


It had nothing to do with the fact that he was jealous.   
  


Nothing at all.   
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning XXVIII - This Was Spike!**    
  


"But this is  _Spike_!" Angel growled, his usual brooding, lurking demeanor giving way to angry pacing in front of Willow.   
  


"I know who it is," Willow sighed, shifting her position on her bed so she was sitting cross-legged. The dark-haired vampire had been saying the same things for the past two hours. This was Spike. Spike was evil. Spike was a killer. Spike used people for his own gain. Spike had kidnapped her. Blah, blah, blah.   
  


"He doesn't have a soul, Willow," Angel said.   
  


"He does, too," Willow said with a grin, remembering a past conversation with the blond vampire. "He picked one up the other week at Wal-mart."   
  


Angel stopped abruptly and stared at her. "What?"   
  


She snickered. "There was a coupon in the paper. A two-for-one sale on souls."   
  


"Willow, this is serious!"   
  


Willow thumped her head back on her ugly, yellow wall. "You're only making it serious. Spike is my friend. A good friend. The best friend I've had since before  _your_  soul went walking."   
  


He gave her a pain-filled look and she immediately apologized. "Oh goddess, Angel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"   
  


"You don't need to explain," Angel told her. He sat down on Lisa's desk chair and studied her a moment. "Why him?"   
  


"Why not him?" Willow countered. "He's funny, intelligent, caring, sexy, a good conversationalist, silly, hyper, wonderful... The list goes on and on."   
  


"You think he's sexy?" Angel asked.   
  


Willow blushed bright red. "Um..."   
  


Angel leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. "Willow, Spike's dangerous. No matter how charming he can be, he's still a soulless demon. I don't want you to get hurt."   
  


"I know you don't," Willow agreed. "But it's my choice who to have as my friend, not yours."   
  


"But Spike is my responsibility," Angel countered. "I'm his sire and I know what he's capable of doing. I know, because I taught him. I'm afraid he's toying with you, Willow, just like he's done to hundreds of young women before. He'll keep leading you on until he takes your virginity, then he'll drain you and discard you."   
  


Willow pursed her lips, her anger building. She knew that Angel only wanted to protect her, but that didn't stop her rising ire. "Angel, I am going to stay this once, then I never want to have this discussion again. Spike. Is. My. Friend.  _Nothing_  you can say or do will stop him from being my friend. Understand?"   
  


Angel sighed heavily and nodded. "Ok, Willow. I'll drop it," he said, then rose to his feet. "Give me a call sometime and let me know how you're doing. Or stop by the office. Cordelia would probably like another female to talk to."   
  


"Cordelia wanting to talk to me? That's like Xander dancing the perfect tango," she teased, standing as well. "It ain't gonna happen."   
  


He chuckled and briefly hugged her. "Take care."   
  


"I will," Willow replied. "Goodnight."   
  


"Night," Angel said, then left.   
  


Willow watched him walk down the hallway, his thigh-length leather jacket giving him a dangerous air. Somehow, she knew she hadn't seen the last of him, especially with Spike in LA. She shook her head and turned to re-enter her room when Tristan exited his. "Hi, Tris."   
  


"Hey, Will," Tristan greeted with a large smile. "Still up for that post-dance party? It's in Jason's room."   
  


"Sure," Willow said with a shrug. She pulled her door shut and locked it, then linked his arm with hers when he held it out. "So, what are we going to do at this party?"   
  


"Oh, the usual," Tristan replied. "Sex, drugs, rock-n-roll."   
  


"Ah, just another typical night..."   
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning XIX - Taking Matters Into His Own Hands**    
  


Since Angel couldn't get it through Willow's thick skull that Spike was dangerous, he set about doing what he should have done in the first place.   
  


"Cordelia, I need hotel registries for all those who checked in after sunset," he ordered, walking into the office. He knew the brunette would still be there, despite the late hour on a Friday night. She was probably the best and most efficient assistant in the working world, which he knew after only a month's time.   
  


"Which hotels?" Cordelia asked, pulling up the correct files on the computer like he had taught her.   
  


"Uh...," he trailed off.   
  


"Got it," she said. "All of them. Any particular name you're looking for?"   
  


"William something," Angel answered. "Or some derivative of that name."   
  


Cordelia's fingers poked at the keyboard. "Well, a William Jackson is at the LaPalma. Um, William Longbeach at the Hyatt. William B. Smith at the Holiday Inn on Deveraux..."   
  


"That's it," Angel said. "Print that one up for me."   
  


"Ok," Cordelia said. "Mind telling me what the big rush is?"   
  


"I'm just taking matters into my own hands," he told her, taking the paper from the printer. "Go ahead and lock up whenever you leave." He glanced down at the paper, nodded to her, then left.   
  


A half-hour later, Angel parked his car in the Holiday Inn's lot and headed into the hotel. He took the stairs rather than the elevator, his fists clenching and unclenching as he approached the room. When 214 came into view, he had to stop himself from kicking the door in. Instead, he raised his hand and knocked sharply on the door.   
  


A moment later, a shorts-clad Spike answered with a surprised look on his face. "What are you doi-" His sentence was cut off as Angel grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground, before entering the room and kicking the door shut behind him.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XXX - Uncertainty**    
  


Willow didn't know whether or not she should be standing outside of Spike's hotel room door at eleven o'clock on Saturday morning. On one hand, she wanted to know why he said what he wanted to do to her the previous night. On the other, she wanted him to  _do_  what he said he wanted to do to her the previous night. Every time she had looked at her dorm room door earlier that morning, she'd blushed bright red.   
  


**Bad Willow. You're not suppose to be thinking of Spike like that,** she told herself. **He's your friend, nothing more. Even if you wouldn't mind it if he...** She blushed and wiped her hands on her shorts. First thing was first. Talking.   
  


She knocked on the door and waited, then knocked again. When he didn't answer, she double-checked the room number and knocked a third time, much louder than the first two. "Spike?" she called through the door. No one answered.   
  


**Did he leave?** Willow wondered. **Or is he just sleeping? But he doesn't sleep that much and I knocked pretty loudly. Maybe I should call.** She knocked again with the same results.   
  


Frowning, she went down to the elevators were a hotel phone was sitting on a small table and dialed Spike's room number. She let it ring ten times and was about to hang up when she heard the other end pick up.   
  


"What?"   
  


"Um, S-Spike?" Willow said, uncertainty filling her. The male who answered had a sandpapery voice pitched very deep.   
  


"Yeah?"   
  


"It's me...uh, Willow," she said. "I'm here. In the, er, hotel. I'm calling from the hotel phone. It's by the elevators. On the second floor, not the first. Can I...do you still want to see me? Or should I go? I can go-"   
  


"No, I'll open the door."   
  


"Ok," she said, but he had already disconnected. Frowning again, she hung up and went back down the hall to room 214 to find it cracked open. She knocked as she entered. "Spike?"   
  


Shutting the door behind her, she entered and saw that the bathroom door was shut. "Spike, I'm here," she said louder, moving further into the room and taking a seat in the chair near the heavily-curtained window. She nervously toyed with the brim of his cap that she took off her head.   
  


The bathroom door opened and her eyes widened when she saw him. "Spike!" she exclaimed, dropping the hat onto the floor as she stood and rushed over to him. "What happened?"   
  


"Nothing," Spike said, his voice gravelly. He took a step back from her when she tried to touch his face.   
  


"You call a black eye nothing?!" Willow gasped incredulously. "And are those bite marks on your neck?"   
  


"I'll heal," he said.   
  


She stared at him in confusion as he moved purposely away from her, then sat gingerly in the chair she abandoned. She watched as he lit up a cigarette and leaned his head back to stare up at the ceiling. "Spike, tell me what happened, please?"   
  


"Drop it, Willow," Spike growled.   
  


Hurt, she walked over and picked up his baseball cap, then put it back on her head. "Oh. I guess I'd better go so you can...do whatever. I have homework anyway," she said. When she turned to leave, she suddenly found herself pulled on Spike's lap and his face buried against her hair.  
  


"Stupid bloody pillock," he muttered, holding her tightly. "I'm  _not_  giving you up."   
  


His words struck her and she felt her anger flare. "Was Angel here?" she demanded, rather than asked. She took Spike's silence to mean yes. "That...that...that...oooh! I'm so mad, I can't even think of a word to describe him!"   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning XXXI - A Lesson About Vampires**    
  


Willow winced in sympathy when Spike winced, as she laid another cold washcloth across his bare back. "Angel is so going to be newted," she muttered.   
  


"No, Willow," Spike said, his arms wrapped under the pillow beneath his head. "He was justified."   
  


"Justified!" Willow exclaimed, standing abruptly. She stared down at the khakis-clad vampire laying on his stomach on the bed with incredulity. "He was  _justified_!"   
  


He looked at her out of one eye. "Angel is my sire and he felt I was out of line. He has the right to-"   
  


"That's bull-puckeys!" she snapped.   
  


"Kitten, calm down."   
  


"No, I will not! I am going over to Angel's and give him a piece of my magick," Willow said, sitting down on the floor to put her gym shoes back on.   
  


"Willow, stop," Spike said firmly, his voice still rough. He raised his head and stared at her. "You will do nothing of the sort."   
  


"But-but," she started, meeting his eyes with confusion. "He hurt you."   
  


"Which I didn't bloody think he could ever do, being all soulful, but Hell must have really worked a number on the old sod," he said. He saw the anger flare in her eyes and he shook his head. "No, luv. There's a lot of things you don't know about vampires."   
  


"So tell me," Willow prompted. "Tell me why I shouldn't go zap Angel where the sun wouldn't shine if he could go in the sun to begin with."   
  


Spike laid his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. After a moment, he felt Willow climb next to him on the bed. "In all actuality, I'm kind of impressed with the ponce," he began. "He cares enough about you to make sure you don't get hurt and packs one hell of a bleedin' punch."   
  


"He did hurt me," Willow said. "By hurting you."   
  


His lips curled up at the sentiment behind her statement, which caused a happy feeling to settle in his chest. He continued. "If I was only toying with you, I would have been gone out of your life the second the pillock left. The fact that I really do bloody care about you is the only thing stopping me now. I hate to say this, but my sire is one fucking masterful vampire. I feel like I've gone back 200 years to when Angelus first turned me."   
  


"You don't think he's...Angelus again, do you?" she asked, worriedly.   
  


"No," Spike replied immediately. "If he was, I'd be dust."   
  


"Oh, well,...um,...good," she said.   
  


"Does that answer why for you, kitten?"   
  


"I guess," Willow sighed. "It's very sweet, in a brutish fashion. And I definitely know for sure you're not my friend because you're using me. Oh! Not that I thought that before! In fact, I never thought that! I don't know why I said it..."   
  


Spike chuckled. "It's ok, pet. It proves the same thing to me."   
  


"I don't understand."   
  


"Like I said already, it proves that I really do care about you."   
  


A huge smile spread on Willow's face. "But I still want to turn Angel into a newt. Or a fish. I've been working on that one. Have you ever seen a eraser-shaped fish before? He's got the word 'Mead' scrawled across his fishy body. But he's dead. You can't make a live fish out of a non-living object."   
  


"Willow, I have something else I want to tell you," Spike said.   
  


"Oh, uh, go ahead," she said.   
  


"It's about last night and my...behavior."   
  


She shifted uncomfortably. "I kinda wanted to ask you about that, too."   
  


He opened his eyes and looked up at her. Her face was a lovely shade of pink. "What did you want to ask?"   
  


"Um...me...d-door...why?" she stammered.   
  


"This is going to sound bad, kitten, so try not to get mad at me," Spike said slowly. She gave him a quizzical look. "I, er, am a demon."   
  


"I think I already knew that," Willow said, when he didn't continue. He closed his eyes and muttered something. "What was that?"   
  


"I said I wanted to mark you."   
  


"Uh, I know my name is Willow, but I don't look like a tree."   
  


He reopened his eyes and stared at her a second before he burst into laughter. Tears streamed down his cheeks, both from the pain and the mirth he was feeling. "Cor, kitten, when you put it like that, it sounds like I was going to piss on you."   
  


"You weren't, right?" she asked after a moment.   
  


"No, what I wanted to do involved a different, er, type of fluid," he said, his voice raw from laughing. She blushed bright red and he knew he'd better finish what he needed to tell her before she became so uncomfortable, she left. "Vampires do that sort of thing, pet, as a way to tell others to shove off."   
  


"Oh. Well, ok, then. I guess." She looked everywhere but at him. "Um...oh, blood!"   
  


"What?"   
  


"For you. To, you know, heal and stuff," Willow said, quickly standing. She needed to get out of the hotel room to think about what he said. She couldn't decide if she was hurt or pleased -- hurt because he really didn't  _want her_  want her; pleased because it sounded like he was jealous of someone. "I'll just go and, er, get some. From...somewhere."   
  


"Ok, kitten," he said. "Take the key. It's on the telly."   
  


"Right. I'll be back," she told him, then left.   
  


Spike sighed and relaxed against the pillow, glad that she understood. Ignoring the pain he still felt, he drifted off into a peaceful sleep. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Higher Learning XXXII - Growl**

  
  
  
  


Angel opened his door and blinked in sleepy surprise at the redhead in a old Dodger's cap who stood on the other side. "Willow?"   
  


Willow looked up at him with a glare, then pushed past him into his apartment. He closed the door and trailed after her. "Willow is there something-"   
  


He stopped in the kitchen doorway, where the hacker had all-but-stomped into, and stared at her as she removed containers of blood from his refrigerator. Each one thunked down on the kitchen table until there were no more. Then she shut the door and opened the cabinet beneath the sink. He watched, dumbfounded, as she took out a plastic back and slammed the door shut.   
  


She put each container in the bag, then picked it up and headed right towards him. As she shoved past him again, she emitted a growl equal to that of which he could make. A moment later, the apartment door slammed, as the petite witch left.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XXXIII - But-**    
  
  
  


"Buffy, she growled at me!" Angel said into the phone.   
  


"Willow?" Buffy said.   
  


"No, Maple," Angel said sarcastically. "Of course Willow."   
  


"Why would Willow be growling at you?" Buffy asked patiently. She rolled her eyes at Faith, who was sitting on her bed, as she tried to figure out what her boyfriend was babbling about.   
  


"ImayofsortatoldSpiketogoaway," Angel mumbled quickly.   
  


"Uh, what was that?" Buffy said. She covered the receiver with her hand and whispered to Faith. "I think he's lost it." Faith snorted.   
  


"I told Spike to take a hike," Angel repeated more clearly.   
  


"Only with your fists, right?" Buffy said, putting a hand on her hip.   
  


"And, uh, maybe my fangs," Angel admitted sheepishly.   
  


"Angel!" Buffy exclaimed. "I told you not to do anything to him!"   
  


"But-"   
  


"I told you no!"   
  


"But-"   
  


"I. Told. You. No."   
  


"But-"   
  


"Angel," Buffy said sweetly. "If you 'but' me one more time, I'll growl at you."   
  


"But-"   
  


"GRRR!" Buffy yelled into the phone, then hung up. She grabbed her purse. "Come on, Faith. We're going to LA."   
  


"Bitchin'," Faith said. She followed Buffy out of her bedroom. "One problem. We don't have wheels. Or licenses."   
  


"But we have a Xander."   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learing XXXIV - Getting the Driver**    
  
  
  


"Let me get this straight," Xander said, looking back and forth between the two Slayers. "You want me to drive you two down to LA so Buffy can beat up Angel for beating up Spike after Buffy specifically told Angel not to beat up Spike?"   
  


"That's a 10-4," Faith replied.   
  


"Can I beat Angel up, too?" Xander asked with a grin.   
  


"If you get us there five minutes ago," Buffy answered.   
  


"We are so gone," Xander said, throwing his car keys in the air and catching them.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XXXV - Gathering Her Thoughts**    
  


Willow sat on a bench outside of the Holiday Inn, watching the people who walked past her on the sunny day. The bag filled with containers of blood was by her feet, her hand looped around the handle so no one would try to take it. She knew she should bring it up to Spike so it wouldn't go bad, but she needed a few more moments to gather her thoughts.   
  


She was glad that Spike hadn't been run off by Angel. She liked having him as her friend. She would be content to always have him just be a friend, although she wouldn't mind trying that kissing-thing with him again. But, if Spike didn't really want her in the naughty sense of the word 'want,' she could live with that.   
  


After all, she had a pretty sexy next-door neighbor.   
  


With that settled, she stood and made her way into the hotel. She stopped by the soda machine and got a Coke before she continued on to Spike's room. Using the key, she let herself in and found the blond vampire sound asleep on the bed. Quietly, she set the bag on the small dresser and walked over to his side.   
  


She gently removed the multiple wash rags she'd put across his back, then frowned at the marks marring his pale skin. His chest had been unmarred, but he had refused to let her see anything below his belt. She could see a criss-cross of faint red lines on the back of his tan khaki's where blood had soaked into the material. She sighed and went into the bathroom to rinse the rags out, then returned and carefully replaced them on his back.   
  


"'Zat you, kitten?" Spike mumbled sleepily.   
  


"No," Willow replied with a smile. "Go back to sleep."   
  


"'K," he sighed.   
  


Willow laughed lightly when she realized he'd fallen asleep again.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XXXVI - One Thing To Say**    
  


The phone rang, waking Spike up for the second time, the first being when Willow wanted him to feed. He'd gotten a good laugh over how she obtained the blood and had fallen back into a pleasant sleep filled with dreams of the tiny witch beating up his sire.   
  


"Hello?" Willow said, answering the phone. She was sitting beside him, having moved the chair next to the bed. Spike watched as she narrowed her eyes, then she held out the receiver. "It's Angel."   
  


He pushed up on his elbows and shifted his weight so he could accept the phone. "Yeah?" he said, his voice devoid of emotion.   
  


"Spike, it's Angel," Angel said over the line.   
  


"So I heard," Spike said.   
  


Angel muttered something that Spike couldn't pick up, then heard the Slayer's voice in the background, followed by his sire's sigh. "Buffy wants me to apologize to you."   
  


"Are you sorry?" Spike asked curiously.   
  


"Not even remotely," Angel replied.   
  


Spike decided to be completely honest with his sire for once. "Good. If you were, I would have lost what little bit of respect I had left for you, because you got the knackers to date the Slayer despite the soddin' curse."   
  


"I take it you're not leaving," Angel stated.   
  


"No," he replied succinctly.   
  


Angel sighed again. "Hurt her and I'll make you eat your testicles by breaking your body in half so you can reach them," he said in a calm, non-threatening tone.   
  


"I'd like to see you try, mate," Spike said, a grin spreading across his face. He could hear the Slayer yelling in the background and he chuckled.   
  


"Spike, put Willow on," Angel said.   
  


"He wants to talk to you," Spike told Willow, handing the phone back to her.   
  


"Yeah?" Willow said in an exact mimic of Spike.   
  


Spike couldn't help but snort. He was sure his sire was apologizing to Willow, because her eyes flashed green and silver.   
  


"Well, Angel, I have only one thing to say to you," Willow said into the receiver.   
  


Then she hung up the phone.   
  


Spike laughed until he cried.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XXXVII**  -  **She Couldn't Breathe**    
  


"Well, kitten, how's it look?" Spike asked, trying to look over his shoulder at his back. Fresh out of the shower, towel riding low on his hips, he wanted to find out if his injuries had healed.   
  


Willow couldn't stop staring at him -- and not because she was worried about the almost completely faded marks. It wasn't as though she wasn't caring about what Angel had done, she did, and she was still upset with the dark-haired vampire. However, the white towel was barely staying on his lean hips. One false move and it would fall off, leaving Spike quite unclothed.   
  


That gorgeous body would be completely exposed.   
  


A naked Spike.   
  


She couldn't breathe.   
  


"Willow?" Spike said, turning his head to try to look over his other shoulder. "Is it bad?"   
  


*Oh yeah,* she thought, her eyes glued to his backside, trying not to will the towel to fall. *It's very bad.*   
  


"Kitten?"   
  


"Mmeep?" Willow squeaked, as Spike turned around to face her. Her cheeks were flushed and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. He had a dark trail of hair that led from his navel down under the towel which she hadn't seen when they'd last been at the hotel.   
  


The towel moved. Even in her virgin status, she knew exactly what caused the towel to move, especially considering she was staring at an area she shouldn't be staring at on her best friend.   
  


She couldn't breathe.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XXXVIII - Men!**    
  


"I said I was sorry," Angel repeated for the hundredth time in the last half-hour. He ran an exasperated hand through his hair.   
  


"But you didn't mean it," Buffy said, scowling at him. "I told you not to do anything."   
  


"Buffy, despite being 244-years old, I'm still just like any other male," Angel said. "You tell me not to do something, chances are I'm going to do it."   
  


"That doesn't make any sense!" Buffy exclaimed. Angel shrugged and she growled. "Ooh, men! You are such...such...men!"   
  


He gave her a puzzled look. "I'm not sure how to respond to that."   
  


"I think Buffy just insulted me, too," Xander commented to Faith, who was sitting beside him at the kitchen table, watching the fight in the living room.   
  


"Who said you were a man?" Faith asked him with a wicked grin.   
  


"Hey!"   
  


"That's because you're a man, Angel," Buffy said, as if speaking to a child. She tapped her temple. "It's hard for you to grasp complex things."  
  


Angel narrowed his eyes slightly. "Watch it, Buffy."   
  


"Or what?" Buffy scoffed. "Are you going to beat me up like you did Spike?"   
  


"Five bucks says yes," Faith said to Xander.   
  


"He wouldn't touch her," Xander said. "You're on."   
  


"Buffy, I did what any sire would do when their childe was out of line," Angel said. "I should have done it when Spike first came to Sunnydale."   
  


"Why didn't you?"   
  


"Because I was a guilt-plagued wimp who was too busy following you around like a whipped dog," Angel answered bluntly.   
  


Buffy's, Xander's and Faith's mouths dropped open. Faith chuckled and socked Xander on the arm, who closed his mouth with a clack.   
  


"Oh," Buffy finally said. "So, uh, what does that mean now?"   
  


A slow, predatory smile crossed his lips. "It means that there's something I'd much rather be doing than arguing with you about Spike."   
  


Buffy's eyes widened and she squeaked, as Angel grabbed her suddenly and hoisted her over his shoulder. He smacked her rear-end, then carted her off into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him.   
  


Faith turned to Xander. "Why don't we put that fin you owe me to use and get us some munchies?"   
  


A loud squeal of laughter that suddenly cut off came from the bedroom.   
  


"Good idea," Xander said. The two stood and quickly left the apartment.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning IXL - Embarrassment**    
  


She was looking at him like he was a new computer and her hands were itching to grasp the joystick. Said joystick became a little stiffer. The towel that Spike had around his waist moved slightly because of this. Willow's eyes widened and she turned a very interesting shade of red.   
  


Embarrassment because of his physical reaction to her took whatever blood that wasn't traveling to all points south and spread it across his cheeks. He quickly turned around, clenched his fists and ground his teeth together, as he tried to will his budding erection away. He did not want her to know how much he desired her in that way. He was too afraid to ruin their friendship, especially in light of his behavior the previous night.   
  


"Sorry," Spike said through his clenched teeth. He snatched his clothes off the end of the bed and beat a hasty retreat to the bathroom. He didn't know how they were going to get past this embarrassing predicament.   
  


Willow didn't know how they were going to get past this embarrassing predicament. She could pretend she didn't see what she saw. She could pretend she didn't understand what she saw. She could run far away. She could barge into the bathroom and demand to see it again -- without the towel in the way.   
  


*Ooh, bad Willow,* she thought in response to the last idea. Her face had to be as red as a stoplight. She felt the intense need to go jump into the ice machine at the end of the hall.   
  


That was it!   
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning XL - Ice Cubes**    
  


Spike emerged from the bathroom, his trousers and shirt firmly in place. He had come up with and discarded several ways to extract themselves from the embarrassment caused by his schoolboy reaction to her. He finally decided to ignore what happened and dig out the cards he had to involve her in an rousing -- not  _a_ rousing -- game of gin.   
  


"Willow, what say weeeeaaahh!"   
  


Spike's back arched as the ice cubes hit his skin under his shirt. He whirled around to see Willow standing there with a mischievous grin on her face, holding an ice bucket. He grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled it out of the waistband of his pants, but not before a cube sneaked into them.   
  


"Bloody hell that's cold!" he yelped, jumping up and down to urge the cube to descend down his pant leg.   
  


Willow's hand suddenly shot out and a few more cubes joined its brethren in his trousers, as she yanked his waistband out and dropped them inside. The squeal he let out was by far the most unmanly sound he'd ever made.   
  


She burst into laughter, as he danced around. She turned, threw open the door and took off running down the hallway.   
  


"Willow!" Spike finally exclaimed. With a large smile, he tore after her and the remainder of the afternoon was spent running around the hotel.   
  


The awkwardness that might have been had vanished with the ice cubes down Spike's pants.   
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning XLI - Belonging**    
  


"You only have that bite mark on your neck," Willow told Spike, shortly before they were to leave to head back to her dorm. Spike had changed into the swim trunks she had gotten him, then slid his fatigues on over them along with a black T-shirt.   
  


He ran his fingers through his hair to combit back and shrugged. "Nothing I can do about it, luv," he said. "It should be gone by morning."   
  


She rolled up onto her knees on the hotel bed and lightly touched the twin whitish marks on the side of his neck. The skin had healed over the punctures, but it was easy to tell he'd been bitten. "Did it hurt?"   
  


"Not really," Spike replied, tilting his head slightly so she could see better. "It's more of a mental 'ouch' than a physical one."   
  


"How's that?" she asked curiously.   
  


"It's like I told you this morning, kitten, the vampire world is based on dominance and possession," he said, taking a seat beside her to pull on his boots. "I was given a reminder that I belong to someone else." He gave her a wry grin. "It bloody bites."   
  


Willow groaned and slugged him lightly on the shoulder. "That was bad," she aid. She moved so she was seated beside him, then started twisting the hem of her shirt.   
  


"Just ask, Willow," Spike told her after a few moments watching her nervous actions out of the corner of his eye. "I'll always tell you the truth."   
  


She continued to fiddle with her shirt for a moment. "Is it ok that you, uh, 'belong' to Angel or do you hate it?" Willow finally asked. "I mean, I already know you're not leaving even though he told you to and that you think he did the right thing..."   
  


"Both," Spike answered, rising to his feet and walking over to the small table. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it before he continued. "I bloody hate the fact that someone owns me, but it's nice to know the stupid sod still  _wants_  to own my cute arse. He may be a wanker, but he is my sire."   
  


He took a drag on the cigarette. "You know what I hated most when Angel lost his bloody soul? Well, aside from the fucker taking my Dru, that is."   
  


Willow figured it was a question that she needn't answer and waited quietly for him to go on.   
  


"I hated how different he was than the Angelus I remembered," Spike continued. He moved to the heavy curtain and peeked out into the night. "Maybe it was because he had a bleedin' soul, or maybe it was because he wasn't around for all those years, I don't know. He was always a sick fuck. Liked to play mind games and all that rot. But to do that to a Slayer? Especially one as unconventional as your Buffy? That's just not playing with all his marbles, if you know what I'm saying."   
  


He dropped the curtain and tapped the cherry of his cigarette into the ashtray. "Does that answer your question, pet?"   
  


"Yeah," Willow replied. She shook her head. "Vampire behavior is strange. It's like a whole other culture, like African tribes compared to American life. Or even like...um...like..."   
  


"Wild animals," Spike supplied. "Predatory ones, not the fluffy kind."   
  


Willow looked at him, then burst into giggles. He arched a brow in question. "I just pictured you with a squirrel's tail," she explained between giggles. "And the ears."   
  


He rolled his eyes, then put his wallet in his front pocket and grabbed his car keys, cigarettes and lighter. "Let's go, kitten," he said, picking up the room key. "Before you start calling me 'Rocky.'"   
  


 

* * *

  
  
  
  


**Higher Learning XLII - Drop Dead Gorgeous**    
  


Michael needed to find a tanning bed and he looked like he needed to take a weightlifting class.   
  


Jason needed that same class, but to get rid of the belly he had from eating junk food all night while sitting in front of the computer.   
  


Shay Lin had a  _lot_  of bug tattoos.   
  


Tristan looked like the perfect boy-next-door. Built, but not overly so; California tan; navy blue swim trunks that showed off a cute ass -- not that she was ogling it, merely taking note -- and a light dusting of dark hair covering his legs.   
  


Rafael was a Latin Adonis, perfectly sculpted and radiating sensuality that was almost palpable.   
  


Spike was literally drop dead gorgeous.   
  


Willow couldn't keep her eyes off him, especially because he was standing next to Rafael. The contrasts between the two men were extreme, but if she were forced to chose one based only on their physical appearance, Spike would win hands down.   
  


The flock of girls -- and a few guys -- who were hanging around as the group of friends went on their Fountain Run seemed to agree with her. Spike looked dangerous. And deadly. And gorgeous. The bad boy all the girls fantasized about.   
  


And he was Willow's.   
  


That thought made her blush. Spike was hers in the sense that he was her friend and not the others'. Not hers in the physical sense. **Ooh, that's even naughtier,** she thought, turning a darker shade of red.   
  


Spike wondered why Willow was blushing. He'd been watching her ever since they had joined her friends for the Fountain Run. Of course, it was impossible for him  _not_  to have his eyes on her, what with her wearing the same swim suit she'd worn when they'd last visited LA together.   
  


Luckily, he managed to get his schoolboy hormones under control, or he'd be standing in calf-high water in the fountain with a raging hard on that all the world could see. Then again, the night was still young, and if she kept bending over like she was, his control would be extremely tested.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XLIII - What 's Your Book?**    
  


Spike was trying desperately not to tear Tristan's head off and suggest a game of water polo using the boy's head as the ball. Standing at the edge of the pond, his toes sunk into the mud, his jaw ticked as he ground his teeth together. His arms were crossed and he was staring out over the dark water, half-listening to Willow and her friends.   
  


" _Lonesome Dove_  by Larry McMurtry," Shay Lin said. "I got so upset about the pig at the end, I threw the book across the room."   
  


"What about you, Rafael?" Tristan asked. "What book have you read that caused a big reaction?"   
  


" _Romeo and Juliet_ ," Rafael replied. "It is sad that the parents could not see past petty difference to pure love. I did wept when Juliet woke at the same moment Romeo met death. If she had awoke a few seconds sooner..." He was quiet for a moment, then smiled. "It is much fun to read old English in español."   
  


The friends laughed and Spike muttered to himself, "Old Willy was a pompous blowhard who wrote in high English so no one but the bloody toffs could read his stupid stories. Not that I cared about that crap..."   
  


"Willow?" Tristan prompted.   
  


"Well, I read  _Interview with the Vampire_  last summer and laughed so much I almost wasn't able to finish it," Willow replied with a large grin to Spike, who had turned towards the group when she started speaking.   
  


"You found it humorous?" Michael said. "Not tragic?"   
  


"Vampire's don't act like Louis. Lestat, yes. I felt sorry for Claudia because she was trapped in a girl's body, but I don't know any vampire who acts like Louie," she said.   
  


Spike arched his brow. "What about the poof?"   
  


"The 'Poof?'" Jason said.   
  


"Um..." Willow tried to think of some way to answer Jason. "An, uh, Anime character from some movie we saw." She looked over at Spike expectantly.   
  


"Right," Spike said, backing her up. It was his mistake anyway. "Don't recall what picture, though."   
  


"What about you, Tristan?" Willow asked before anyone could start a Twenty Questions game to try to figure out what Anime movie they were talking about when it didn't even exist. "What's your book?"   
  


" _Atlas Shrugged_  by Ayn Rand," Tristan answered. "It was nine hundred pages long, but a fast read. It nicely countered the crap that was forced down our throats in my Humanism class. After I finished it, I wrote the author. I got a nice, long letter back."   
  


Spike narrowed his eyes slightly when Tristan looked pointedly at him while the boy said the number of pages being a "fast read." **Whatever the hell that means,** the blond vampire thought. He watched as an almost smug smile appeared on Tristan's face, and he had to curb the impulse to wipe it off with his fist.   
  


"How about you, Spike?" Tristan asked. "What's your book?"   
  


Spike ground his teeth together for a moment, restraining his instinct to show the boy who was the Master. Bite mark on his neck or not, he was the dominant here.   
  


"Well, mate, there's just so many to choose from," Spike said, his voice slightly mocking. "What with me being an uneducated cockney git and all."   
  


Willow looked as if she was going to intervene, but he stopped her with a lift of his fingers. "But I would have to say it was the first book I ever read cover to cover," Spike continued, not changing his tone. The boy was going to have to learn that Spike wasn't easily intimidated or embarrassed. "It was that Dr. Seuss bloke's  _One Fish, Two Fish_  book."   
  


"I love that one!" Shay Lin exclaimed, leaning forward over her bent knees. "Have you read  _Yertle the Turtle_?"   
  


" _Hop On Pop_ ," Jason said. "That's my favorite."   
  


" _The Cat in the Hat_  is evil," Michael spoke up. "The children were good kids until that Cat came along."   
  


" _The Lorax_ ," Rafael added. "Such a heartening lesson."   
  


Spike smirked at Tristan as the Dr. Seuss titles continued to fly back and fourth. He could see the boy grinding his own teeth together now.   
  


Tristan: one. Spike: two.   
  


 

* * *

**Higher Learning XLIV - Miss You**

  
  


"Well, luv, I'd best be off," Spike said, standing under the carport outside the doors of the Holiday Inn. The day was dark, heavy storm clouds blocking out the sun, much to the vampire's comfort. Check-out time had been at eleven, as it was last time he and Willow stayed there. He hadn't been too worried because of the carport, but the lack of sunshine was always a plus.   
  


"I'm glad you came down," Willow told him. She stuck her hands in the back pockets of her cargo pants, the old Dodger's cap backwards on her unbound hair.   
  


"I am, too." He gave her a soft smile. "Give us a bell sometime?"   
  


"I will. Promise," she replied. "And I'll threaten Lisa with newtage about taking better phone messages."   
  


He chuckled. "You do that, kitten."   
  


Willow gave him a half-smile, then looked away. "Well, um, bye."   
  


"Bye," Spike repeated. He turned and headed around the front of his car towards the driver's side.   
  


Halfway there, he stopped, turned and retraced his steps. Stopping directly in front of Willow, he put his finger under her chin, tilted her face up and brushed his lips over hers.   
  


"Miss you," Spike whispered against her mouth before he dropped his hand and quickly made his way to the driver's side of his car.   
  


Willow was still standing there five minutes later, hands in her back pockets, a stunned expression on her face. It wasn't until another car pulled up that she snapped out of her daze. A large grin crossed her lips and she said aloud, "I'll miss you, too."   
  


The elderly couple who exited the care looked at the redhead funnily, as Willow turned and walked away.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XLV - About Spike**    
  


"So, what are we going to do about Willow and Spike?" Buffy asked the three brunettes seated around Angel's kitchen table Sunday afternoon. The friends from Sunnydale had opted to stay overnight at the ensouled vampire's apartment, giving the blond Slayer some quality time to spend with her boyfriend. It also gave Faith an excuse to drag Xander around to various clubs and revel in the night away from the Hellmouth.   
  


"I've done all I could, save from staking my unruly childe," Angel said, resting his forearms on the table.   
  


"Staking is good," Xander said.   
  


"Red would be pissed if you did that, Xand," Faith pointed out.   
  


"We do not want to upset Willow," Angel agreed.   
  


Xander snickered. "Deadboy's afraid."   
  


"You would be, too, if you heard her growl,"Angel told him.   
  


"Don't worry, Angel," Buffy said, patting his arm. "I'll protect you from the big, bad Wicca." Angel glared at her and she smiled innocently.   
  


"I say let them be," Faith said. "Spike is a super-hottie with a great ass-"   
  


"Faith!" Buffy exclaimed.   
  


"What?" Faith said, looking at the blond Slayer. "You're the one who said his ass made you think of-"   
  


Buffy leaned over and clamped her hand on the top of Faith's mouth. "She's lying. Telling stories. Nothing that comes out of her mouth is the truth," she said.   
  


Faith pushed Buffy's hand away and grinned wickedly. "Guess I shouldn't mention your comment about Spike pounding-" The brunette Slayer clacked her mouth shut at Buffy's murderous glare, but the grin was still there.   
  


"Buffy, is there something you wish to share with me?" Angel asked in a calm tone, one dark brow arched as he looked at her.   
  


"No?" Buffy replied, her voice rising to make it more of a question than an answer.   
  


Faith and Xander exchanged looks, stood and quickly left the room. "You are evil," Xander commented to Faith as they headed out the front door.   
  


"Yes," Faith agreed, no remorse in her voice.

 

 

* * *

  


**Higher Learning XLVI -**   **Friends**

  
  
  
  


"Aaron, you trotting git," Spike said into the phone when his vampire friend picked up on the other end of the line. Spike had very few true friends, considering he was a Master vampire with a tolerance level of a caged jackal. But those friends that he did have, he was extremely open and talkative with. Mostly because he needed to have normal conversations while he catered to an insane Drusilla all those years. "What's this about me being whipped nonce?"   
  


Aaron chuckled. "Where were you this weekend?"   
  


"LA, visiting Willow," Spike replied.   
  


"See."   
  


"Sod off," Spike grumbled. He began pulling dirty clothes of his duffle, which he'd tossed on the bed after getting back from Los Angeles.   
  


"So, what's new?" Aaron asked.   
  


"I had a run-in with my Sire," Spike said.   
  


"I take it by your tone of voice it wasn't a pleasant dalliance," Aaron said.   
  


"Let's just say the old man still has it and definitely knows how to use it."   
  


"Ouch."   
  


"Yes."   
  


"I take it this was about your redhead?"   
  


Spike moved to his closet, dirty clothes under his arm. "Yeah. Angel was all 'leave Willow the bloody hell alone' and 'I'm your Sire, and don't you forget it' bollocks. Cor, you should have seen her face when she saw what the sod did to me." He opened his sliding closet door while chuckling. "She went over to his place and stole his stash of blood right from his icebox!"   
  


"That's quite a woman you've found, Spike," Aaron commented, also laughing.   
  


"She sure is," Spike said fondly. "Did you know that little Witch..."   
  


"The little Witch what?" Aaron prompted.   
  


Spike didn't hear, however, because he was too busy staring incredulously at his clothing hanging in his closet. "Why those bloody chits!"   
  


"Woah, what brought that on?" Aaron asked.   
  


"The-the-the," Spike sputtered angrily. He dropped his dirty laundry on the floor and tucked the phone between his shoulder and ear so he could rearrange his clothes. "Those Slayers! They were in my bleedin' house! Is nothing sacred? Cor, those bitches..."   
  


"Wait, how do you know they were there?" Aaron said. "Did they leave a threatening calling card? A stake through a dummy dressed as you?"   
  


"They rearranged my clothes!"   
  


Aaron burst out laughing at the other end of the line.   
  


"Shut up," Spike growled. "Just. Shut. Up."   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XLVII - Payback**    
  


That night, Spike sneaked over to the Summers' home, sneaked into Buffy's bedroom window -- thankful about still having an invitation -- and stole all her clothing.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XLVIII - Ransom**    
  


"...All he left was a stupid ransom note!" Buffy exclaimed into the phone, a piece of paper twisted in her other hand. "Even my holey socks with the bears on them are gone!"   
  


Angel was having a very hard time containing his laughter at the other end of the line. "So what do you want me to do about it, honey?"   
  


"Do some...Sire thing," Buffy said, waving her hand around. "Make him give me my clothes back."   
  


"Why don't you just do what the ransom note says?" Angel suggested. "It can't be that bad..."   
  


"'Slayer twit number one,'" Buffy read. "'If you want to see your clothes again, you and Slayer twit number two have to sing Madonna's  _Like a Virgin_  on stage at the Bronze. Hate you, Spike.'"   
  


Angel bit his fist hard to keep the laughs from exploding.   
  


" _Like a Virgin_!!" Buffy squealed. "Faith?!"   
  


"Um, dear, you're not a virgin, either," Angel managed to get out calmly.   
  


"Shut up," Buffy growled. "Just. Shut. Up."   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning XLIX - You Did What?**    
  


"You did what?" Willow burst into giggles, dropping the phone in the process. It clattered to her dorm room floor, causing Lisa to look at her strangely. "He-he-he-he-he," the hacker gasped, trying to tell her roommate what Spike did. She gave up and just laughed.   
  


The black dancer shook her head and picked up the phone. "I'm sorry, Will's gone off the deep end, can I take a message?"   
  


Spike chuckled in Lisa's ear. "Tell the Witch I got the whole thing on video."   
  


Lisa covered the receiver and said, "He says he got the whole thing on tape."   
  


Willow snorted loudly and fell off her bed, clutching her stomach and laughing harder.   
  


"She took that well," Lisa told Spike. "I'm going to have to put the phone down and administer CPR, cause Will's not breathing too well."   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning L - A Gift**    
  


Angel looked curiously at the Priority Mail envelope he'd just received and noted the return address was not one that he knew. The handwriting was of poor quality, and something about it tugged at him memory. He opened the cardboard envelope and pulled out a VCR tape and a note.   
  


"I thawt you mite like a copy," the scribble read. "Your darling boy, Spike."   
  


"Darling, my ass," Angel muttered, unable to help the smile that tugged up one corner of his mouth.   
  


Moving to the television and VCR in the corner of the living room, he stuck the tape in, then sat down on the couch with the remote.   
  


Five minutes later, tears were streaming down his face, and his laughter could be heard throughout the apartment building.   
  


 

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

**Higher Learning LI - Aaron**    
  
  
  


Spike dropped his pencil into the open workbook and rose from his seat at the kitchen table when the doorbell rang. Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he padded in his stocking feet out of the kitchen and through the foyer to the front door, glancing at the grandfather clock set beside the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Eight o'clock, he noted. That meant he'd been working for fifteen whole minutes. Perfect time for a break.   
  


With a look out the peep-hole, the blond vampire threw open the door, a large grin plastered to his face. "Aaron, you nonce, what are you doing here?"   
  


Aaron Von Riklin, aged well over four centuries, smiled at Spike. The light breeze of the late-September night ruffled his thin tufts of red hair that covered his mostly bald head. His short, thin frame was dressed in pleated navy pants, a beige, short-sleeved shirt with a navy knit vest over the top. A pair of half-glasses hung on a cord around his neck. To everyone, Spike included, the Swiss-born man looked more like a nutty, old, physics professor than a master vampire.   
  


"Hiding," Aaron answered, one loafered foot resting on the top step of the porch. "Brigid wanted me to go with to her mother's. I told her I had other plans..."   
  


"And if you don't have proof, she'll ream you a new one," Spike finished. He stepped back from the door. "Well, don't just stand there, pillock, come in."   
  


Aaron entered the ranch home and glanced into the tidy living room as Spike closed the front door. "I can see you're still anal as ever, Spike."  
  


"Watch it, mate," Spike said. "Or I'll tell Brigid the truth."   
  


The red-haired vampire held up his slender hands, a silver, braided ring on his pinkie finger. "I won't say another word about your perfectly straight vacuum lines," Aaron promised.   
  


Spike scowled at his friend's smirk. "Sod off."   
  


Aaron laughed, then trailed after Spike as the blond headed back towards the kitchen. "So, kid, am I interrupting any big plans tonight?"   
  


"Just homework," Spike answered, opening the refrigerator and taking out two long-necked beers.   
  


"Homework?"   
  


Spike gestured to the open workbook on the table, then said one word. "Willow."   
  


"Ah." Aaron nodded. "Willow."   
  


The blond handed Aaron an opened beer, then picked up his pencil in order to close the vocabulary book. "The little Witch decided that she was going to give me a bloody test on the thirtieth," Spike said.   
  


"And no matter how much whining you did, she's still going to give it to you,"Aaron added.   
  


"Yeah," Spike said. "She's all 'talley-ho' about this teaching thing. I don't have the heart to tell her to piss off."   
  


Aaron snorted. "You mean you don't have the balls to tell her no."   
  


"That, too," Spike agreed with a half-grin. He tapped the pencil on the bright green cover of the workbook. "Plus, you know, it'd be nice to get a little more educated. The chit's hanging around with all those university blokes-"   
  


"-And you're afraid."   
  


"What?" Spike frowned at him.   
  


"Spike, I've know you a long time," Aaron said. He gestured with his beer towards the books stacked neatly on the table. "Used to be you wouldn't go through all this trouble to impress a gal."   
  


"I'm not-"   
  


"Now that your little Witch is off in academia-land with mortals as smart as she is," Aaron continued over him. "You think she's going to find some intelligent guy that she has everything in common with and leave you pissing upwind."   
  


Spike's face grew darker as the redhead went on.   
  


"Thus, you think if you can be as book-smart as her college friends, she won't have an excuse not to be your girl," Aaron told him.   
  


"Are you through?" Spike asked in a cold voice. Aaron arched a brow at Spike's tone of voice, but nodded once politely. The blond vampire set the pencil down precisely next to the closed workbook, then folded his arms, his beer dangling from his fingertips.   
  


"I'm going to say this once, and I'm not going to repeat myself, mate," Spike said. "I am doing this learning crap for two reasons and two reasons only. The first it to make my own unlife easier, and the second is to see Willow smile. And that's it."   
  


"I stand corrected," Aaron said. "In fact, I'm still standing. Don't you know it's impolite not to offer your guest a seat? I'm an old man, you know."   
  


Spike shook his head with a small snort of laughter. "You're pathetic, that's what you are."   
  


"Excuse me," Aaron said. "Who's the one who alphabetizes his spice rack?"   
  


"I don't have a spice rack," Spike said, leading the way out of the kitchen.   
  


"Yeah, but if you did, I bet you'd have it alphabetized!"   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LII - Ready?**    
  


It was Faith's turn to watch Spike's house, and she was bored. In the few weeks since she and Buffy had to humiliate themselves in order to get her sister-in-slayage's clothing back, the vampire hadn't really gone out. It was starting to piss her off. How were they suppose to pay him back if the bloodsucker never left?   
  


Shifting on the thick tree branch she was sitting on across the street from Spike's ranch home, Faith popped another Skittle into her mouth. She almost choked on it when she saw her target and a guy that reminded her of Beaker from the Muppet movies Xander had made her watch over the summer. As the two got into a black Bentley, Faith pulled out the cellphone she was currently in charge of and dialed Buffy's pager.   
  


Hopping down from the tree, the brunette darted across the street and to the side door of the garage. She grinned when she found it unlocked. "Not too smart, are you Blondie?" she commented to herself.   
  


Buffy found Faith leaning against the doorjamb to the side door, a cheshire smile on her face. "He's gone?" the blond Slayer asked.   
  


"Left ten minutes ago with some shorty in a Bentley," Faith replied.   
  


"A Bentley?"   
  


"It's a sweet-ass car," Faith told her, as she led the way around Spike's DeSoto in the garage and to the kitchen door. "You gotta be loaded to have one of them."   
  


The brunette turned the knob on the kitchen door and it opened without a sound. She and Buffy exchanged evil smiles.   
  


"Ready?" Faith asked.   
  


" _Oh_ , yeah."   
  


 

* * *

**Higher Learning LIII - Weeks Could Fly By**    
  


Willow shook her head and laughed as she read the new email message from Spike. Ever since the blond vampire had gotten a computer two days after his unexpected visit to UCLA, the two best friends had been communicating more often via email than they did on the telephone, although they still did that at least once a week on Sundays.

The hacker hadn't realized that weeks could fly by so rapidly. One day, she was just starting her freshman year, the next it was almost the end of September. She was about to undertake her first exams in almost all of her classes — she suspected the professors planned to have them all the same week on purpose — and she was involved in a variety of extra-curricular activities that kept her busy from three until dinner time, Monday thru Thursdays.

Her friendships with the small group she'd fallen in with had become tighter, as well. They ate dinner together, and she got together with them often to play cards or go down to the Snack Bar late at night. She didn't do that every night anymore, however. She decided she needed to sleep at least sometimes.

Her fingers flying over the keyboard of her laptop, Willow typed in a reply to Spike's message.

_Sexy Knickers~_

_Yes, you *have* to take the test on the 30th. I'll be back in Sunnydale on Friday night, but I suspect you'll be too busy *studying* to do anything. I'll be at your house bright and early on Saturday, and after the test, we can do whatever (although I have to do my laundry sometime before I leave again on Sunday)._

_And no, I haven't been asked out on a date by anyone. You ask me that practically every day, and I'm beginning to wonder if you know something that I don't. Should I be expecting someone to ask me? < crosses fingers, because this Lady wouldn't mind a little date-friendly action >_

_Speaking of Mr. Tramp, when are we going to go play paintball again? There's a game here on campus called Killer that's sort of like playing, but instead of having teams, you get a name and go after that particular person, then take their name if you kill them and go after their person, and so on, until there's only one person left alive. I haven't played yet, but it sounds like fun. Tris said he'd let me know the next time one was starting._

_Well, I'm off to study some more._

_Hugs,  
Willow_

 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LIV - Morons**    
  
  
  


"Shhh!" Spike shushed with a spray of spittle, a single finger held in front of his lips. "We don't wanna ashract da Schlarseses attenssshhhhhin."   
  


"I kin take 'em," Aaron said, putting up his fists. He wobbled slightly. "Jushh lemme ad'em."   
  


The two Slayers, who were sitting about fifty feet away from the drunken vampires, were engaged in a game of poker as they sat in the cemetery near two new graves. Three hours remained until the sun crested the horizon signaling the start of a new day. Aaron and Spike stood on unsteady legs behind some bushes, the redheaded vampire having wanted to see what the two girls looked like after being regaled with stories by Spike about the blond one.   
  


"No we can't go beatummup," Spike told Aaron, putting his hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "Wiwwow'd be all mad at me."   
  


"Wiwwow, Wiwwow, Wiwwow." Aaron humphed. "S'all you blabber on 'bout. Don't see me talkin' 'bout my Brigididid awldays, er, awlwins, uh, wotsss."   
  


"You's jus jeawus," Spike said. He nodded once in punctuation and staggered forward as he lost his balance. The bushes rustled loudly as he grabbed hold of them.   
  


"'Snot!" Aaron put his hands on his hips and glared at the taller vampire. "I hassn't even met 'er, so how kin I be awl jeawus?"   
  


"Yozziz!" Spike's face morphed into its vampiric countenance. "You weave my kiddin awone! Shezz mine!"   
  


"Betsche'd pick me over you any day," Aaron boasted, puffing his chest out. "I'za better wookin' one."   
  


"Sez who?"   
  


"Sezzime!" Aaron's true face came forth, the ridges over his eyes deeper set than Spike's. He put his fists up again. "Puttem up, ya dumb vamp. Lessee who'sa...he'sa...whassa..." He frowned. "Whassar we fightin' 'bout 'gain?"   
  


Buffy and Faith, who had no trouble hearing the loud conversation going on behind the bushes, both shook their heads. "Morons," Buffy told her sister Slayer.   
  


"Big time," Faith agreed. "Think we should send them back to Spike's," she gave Buffy a sly grin, "casa?"   
  


"Nah," Buffy said. "We have evil to fight. The two drunk morons will just have to hoof it alone."   
  


"You don't think they killed anyone we're suppose to be protectin', do ya B?" Faith asked, glancing over at the rattling bushes.   
  


"No." Buffy shook her head. "Willow said Spike promised her he wouldn't hunt innocents, and I know he'll keep his word. He's weird like that."   
  


"Plus the guy's totally jonesin' for Red." Faith rolled her eyes when she saw two men stumble from behind the bushes towards the exit to the cemetery.   
  


"'DARE YOU SEE 'ER, SITTIN' DARE ACRWOSS DA BAY, SSSHEEEE DON' GATTA LOTTA SAY, BUDDARES SOMEDIN' 'BOUT 'ER. AN' YOU DONNO WHY, BUTCHYER DYIN' TA TRY, YOU WANNA KISS DE GIRWL!!"   
  


"'DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO!!"   
  


Both Buffy and Faith winced at the loud, off-key, drunken caterwauling that came from Spike with accompaniment from the redhead as the two vampires staggered away. They exchanged looks again, and said simultaneously, "Morons."   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LV - Whadda Bwoody Hewl??**    
  
  
  


"I kin dowit, howd yer bwoody howrses," Spike said to Aaron as he squinted at the lock on his front door. He jabbed the key at the hole for the eighth time, missing once again and causing the key to screech as it scraped against the metal surrounding the lock.   
  


"Yeah, but wiwwit be before da sun comesup?" Aaron asked the blond.   
  


"Ah-hah!" Spike exclaimed as the key went home on the ninth try. "Goddit!"   
  


Aaron clapped politely as Spike turned the key, then opened the door. He gestured grandly for the shorter vampire to proceed him. After entering, he had to fight the lock to remove the key from the keyhole, causing Aaron to laugh at him.   
  


"Spike versusus da wock," Aaron tittered.   
  


"Shuddup," Spike grumbled, yanking hard on the key. It broke off, leaving most of it in the lock. "Oh fuck. I bwoke it."   
  


"'S'okay," Aaron said, patting Spike on the arm. "You kin fixzit lader."   
  


Spike nodded and shut the door. He went into the living room, hitting the lightswitch along the way, with Aaron trailing a step behind. He walked to the left side of the room without thought, staring at the broken key in his hand, and sat down on...   
  


...nothing.   
  


The blond vampire hit the floor with a squeak. Aaron laughed again and pointed at Spike. "Clutzzz."   
  


"Wherezmysofa?" Spike blinked owlishly. He looked at the carpeted floor to the left of him, then the right before he looked up. The living room was devoid of any furniture. "Wherez my ovver stuff?"   
  


"Do you fink you got wobbed?" Aaron asked, frowning at four evenly spaced marks in various places on the carpet.   
  


"Nnnaaah!" Spike exclaimed. "Not wobbed!" He fell backwards onto the carpeting and stared up at the ceiling.   
  


And blinked.   
  


And blinked again.   
  


All of Spike's living room furniture was set up perfectly -- on the ceiling. Three ropes held the couch suspended upside down flat on the white ceiling. Another three ropes held the entertainment center the same way. The coffee table and end tables looked to be suspended without help. Various knickknacks and other things were also up on the furniture, defying gravity.   
  


"Whadda bwoody hewl???"   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LVI - Thinking of You**    
  


RING.   
  


RING.   
  


RING.   
  


RI--   
  


"Whoever this is, fuck off," Spike mumbled into the phone.   
  


"Oh, sorry."   
  


Spike sat up abruptly when he heard the familiar female voice. He groaned loudly as his head threatened to explode. "Wait," he said with a hiss of pain.   
  


"Spike? Are you okay?" Willow asked with concern.   
  


"Hangover," Spike confessed with another groan. He flopped back on his pillow again, then regretted the action immediately. "Oooh, I'm dying again."   
  


Willow giggled, then cut off abruptly. "Sorry."   
  


"What's up, kitten?" Spike asked. He frowned as his mind skittered to his old friend, wondering where Aaron was.   
  


"I was just calling to say hi. I was thinking of you," Willow told him, faint music playing in the background.   
  


A smile spread across his face at the same time a happy feeling expanded inside of him. "Well, hi back," he said.   
  


"Is this a bad time? Because of your hangover? Wait, why are you hungover?" Willow asked.   
  


"Because I drank too much last night," Spike answered dryly.   
  


"Duh."   
  


Spike chuckled, picturing the witch rolling her eyes, then he groaned again as his body rebelled to his laughter. "Sorry to make pitiful noises in your ear pet. Me an' Aaron went out-"   
  


"Say no more," Willow interrupted. "I understand. Boys night out fun stuff. It was fun stuff, right?"   
  


"I think so." Spike frowned. "Don't know what I did with Aaron though."   
  


"I'm down here, you stupid dick," Aaron's voice drifted up from the floor. "An' I'd appreciate it if you'd be quiet. Some of us are hungover and trying to sleep it off."   
  


Spike pulled himself out of bed and ignored his protesting body in order to leave the bedroom. He shut the door behind him and slid down to the floor in the hallway, portable phone still in hand. "Found 'im, luv."   
  


"That's good," she said. "I don't think there's a lost and found for vampires anywhere."   
  


Spike leaned his head back against the wall. "You think you're quiet the amusing one, eh?"   
  


"I know I am," she said boastfully.   
  


"Ha ha, kitten," he said. The music in the background caught his attention. "Wait are you listening to? It sounds familiar."   
  


"The  _Tarzan_  soundtrack," Willow replied. "Lisa just got it and put it on the stereo and it reminded me of you, so I called."   
  


"A man in a loincloth reminds you of me?" Spike asked with a short chuckle.   
  


"No, silly, the song," Willow said. "This one."   
  


He heard her move to adjust the volume of the stereo, then Phil Collins' voice over the line.   
  
  
  


_Yes, you'll be in my heart._    
 _From this day on, now and forever long._  
 _You'll be in my heart._  
 _No matter what they say._  
 _You'll be in my heart, always_    
  
  
  


The happy smile that had crossed his face earlier returned and his hangover vanished. "Oh kitten," he murmured quietly, wishing Willow were there with him. "I miss you so bloody much."   
  


"Did you say something?" Willow asked, the volume going down on the music.   
  


"No," Spike lied, not wanted her to know how much he wanted her to come home. "Just singing along."   
  


"So, do you feel okay enough to talk for awhile, or do you have barfy-feelings and wish I'd get off the phone so you can go stake yourself?"   
  


Spike smiled again. "I think I can manage to talk for a bit."   
  


They spoke for over two hours.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LVII - Getting the Furniture Down**   
  
  
  


Spike looked up at his living room ceiling and sighed. He couldn't believe the Slaying Twits had the nerve to do something like that. And he knew it was them, of that he had no doubt. If it had been done to someone else, he'd have been impressed by their ingenuity. However, because it was done to him, he was just annoyed because he had to go and get it all down.   
  


But it was more enjoyable than studying. Taking a bath in holy water would be more enjoyable than studying. He wished he knew when he'd turned into a utter nancyboy. "Long about the time Willow licked your chest, mate," he muttered to himself as he set up the ladder under the ceiling entrance to the attic. "You should've turned her when you had the chance."   
  


Of course, Spike had no real desire to turn the little fireball. He wouldn't hesitate if she were dying and it was the only way for her to survive. But he kind of liked her alive and feisty and able to reduce him to a simpering moron with a smile. "Great, I've turned into my poof of a Sire," he whined, climbing up into the lighted attic. "Felled by a mortal woman with red hair and beautiful green eyes and sexy body that she hides under all those bloody awful sweaters."   
  


Crawling across the rafters, the blond vampire found several strong hooks and bolts holding his furniture to them, and wondered how Buffy and Faith managed to do it. He didn't think he'd been gone  _that_  long with Aaron. Then again, he couldn't remember all to clearly what happened that night, what with the amount of alcohol the he consumed as he tried to drink his old friend under the table.   
  


"Should have made the git stay and help," Spike grumbled, trying to figure out a way to get his furniture down without it dropping and breaking.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LVIII - Friday Morning**   
  


Willow bounced as she walked out of her last class of the day. She'd been one of the lucky Freshmen who's classes ended at eleven a.m. on Fridays, and today she was double happy she got out early because she was going home for the weekend.   
  


She was going to see Spike again.   
  


**I'm going ho-ome, I'm going ho-ome, I'm going ho-ome,** she mentally sang to herself.   
  


"Hey, Will, wait up!"   
  


The hacker stopped and turned, smile on her face, as Tristan caught up to her. "Hey, Tris."   
  


Tristan looped his arm around her shoulder and they fell into step together. "So, what time are you going home?"   
  


"In an hour," Willow replied. "My cab is picking me up at noon to take me over to Angel's with my bags and bags of laundry, then I'm off to Sunnydale." **And Spike.**   
  


"You'll be back on Sunday early, right?" Tristan asked.   
  


"Moderately early, why?" she said.   
  


"The student union is showing  _The Breakfast Club_  on the big screen," Tristan said. "I thought maybe we could go together and see it."   
  


Willow blinked in surprise. Was Tristan asking her on a date? "Are you asking me on a date?"   
  


"Well, uh, yeah. Unless you don't want it to be a date," he said quickly. "We can just go as friends. Because we are friends. And that's what friends do. Go to things together. As friends. And I'm going to stop with the brook impression now."   
  


Tristan was asking her on a date.   
  


Tristan was asking  _her_  on a  _date._    
  


On. A. Date.   
  


**Oh goddess, oh goddess, oh goddess,** Willow thought. **A date. A real date. A boy is asking me on a date. Well, not a boy, really, since he's, like, 21 already. But he's asking me on a date. Oh goddess, this is so cool. I wonder if this is why Spike's been asking me if someone's asked me on a date yet?**   
  


"Uh, so yes or no?" Tristan asked.   
  


"What...oh!" Willow blushed. She'd been so caught up in her mental babbling, she hadn't answered him. "I'd love to go with you. On a date."   
  


A large smile broke out across Tristan's face. "Great! Well, I, um, have another class I need to get to. The movie starts at nine, so I'll knock on your door about eight-thirty, okay?"   
  


"Sounds good," Willow said.   
  


"Have a fun weekend at home," Tristan told her. He dropped his arm from her shoulder and hitched his bag higher on his own. "I'll see you Sunday."   
  


"Yeah, Sunday," she said. He nodded, turned and walked away.   
  


Willow kept walking towards her dorm, practically skipping, as she mentally sang a new tune. **I got a da-ate, I got a da-ate, I got a da-ate...***   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LIX - Friday Morning Elsewhere**    
  
  
  


"Bloody hell, I'm the stupidest git on the planet." Spike shoved the book he was trying to read across the table. It slid to the other end, knocking various papers and workbooks onto the kitchen floor. "This is a soddin' joke. I don't need to know this crap. I lived this long without readin' well."   
  


He stood, the chair scraping on the linoleum, and stalked out of the kitchen. He threw himself down on the replaced couch and lit up a cigarette. Picking up the remote, he angrily stabbed at the on/off button. The television blared to life.   
  


"'...You really think I'd chose  _you_  over Trevor?'" the redheaded co-ed asked a blond in a black, leather motorcycle jacket on the screen. "'Come on, you can't even read that break-up letter I gave you. I want someone who's smart, who's actually going to  _be_  something other than a drop-out from Trailerville, USA. I want someone I can be proud of, not someone which I have to hide my face from others. I want a  _man_ , not a  _loser._ '"   
  


Spike shut off the television by throwing the remote at it, sending a shower of sparks and glass everywhere.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LX - Borrowing Angel's Car**    
  
  
  


"I promise, Angel, I'll be super-careful," Willow said, holding the car keys tight in her hand lest the dark-haired vampire snatch them back. It had taken her almost half-an-hour to get him to relinquish them to her, even though he'd already said she could use his car to drive back to Sunnydale. "Extra super-careful."   
  


"Are you sure you don't want to wait until dark?" Angel asked. "I don't mind driving-"   
  


"No," Willow interrupted quickly. "I have to be home early. Parent-thing. Thanks, though, for offering." She purposely opened the car door in the underground garage of Angel's apartment building. "I'll bring it back safe and sound on Sunday."   
  


"Do you know what time?"   
  


Willow stifled back her groan of annoyance. "Sometime early. I have a date at eight-thirty and want to be unpacked and ready before then."   
  


Angel arched his brows. "A date?"   
  


"Don't sound so amazed," Willow grumbled.   
  


"No," Angel said. "I was thinking more along the lines of it was about time someone asked you out."   
  


Willow gave him a half-smile. "Thanks."   
  


"You're welcome," Angel said. "Now, you'd better get going while it's light out so it's easier for you to drive."   
  


"Angel, the sun doesn't set for another five hours."   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXI - Borrowing Time**    
  
  
  


Spike dragged his hand through his damp hair as he looked at the mess on his living room floor. The glass from the broken television was still littering the carpet, the remote sitting inside the now-useless body of the set. He'd gone and taken a cold shower in efforts to calm himself down, and was now faced with the mess he'd made.   
  


He pursed his lips, disgusted with himself and his behavior. He turned and walked into the kitchen, stepping over the papers and books that had fallen to the floor during his temper-tantrum, and retrieved the trash can and Dustbuster.   
  


**What the hell is wrong with me?** he thought as he started to pick up the broken glass. **It's only a soddin' test. I don't have to take it if I don't want to. I could fail it and it wouldn't make a difference to me.**   
  


Then Spike thought of the face Willow would make when he did fail, the 'I'm disappointed but I'm not going to show it' look he'd gotten when he'd told her they couldn't go to the pictures one night. It had made him feel awful, and he'd shown up at her house at three in the morning with ice cream and an apology. Her friendship was the most important thing in his unlife, both back then and still now, and he didn't want something stupid to muck it up. What moments they had together were limited as it was considering she was mortal, and borrowing time from Death came with collection date that was unknown.   
  


"Great, now I'm depressing myself," Spike muttered, violently plunking bits of glass into the trash. Willow was coming home to him in less than twenty-four hours. If he didn't get his act together, he might as well just tell her to not come because their all-too-short visit would be uncomfortable.   
  


He flicked the Dustbuster on and ran it over the carpeting near the television, the little vacuum picking up the tiny shards that he missed. He didn't want Willow to get hurt, either by cutting her feet or by his anger at himself. She was coming home to him for two days only, and he didn't want to miss a single moment. He missed her fiercely, more than he'd ever thought he could miss someone he only considered a friend.   
  


It was a good thing that he knew Aaron and about the older vampire's relationships with mortal women, or Spike would think his affection for Willow was a sign that he was going 'round the bend. Human women were supposed to be used for a quick shag then as dinner or turned, and that was it. Vampires weren't supposed to be friends with them, it wasn't normal.   
  


Then again, when had he ever been considered normal? His Sire, once the Scourge of Europe, was now a souled poof in love with what was conceivable his mortal enemy, the Vampire Slayer; Spike had loved one female vampiress for close to a century and was faithful to her to the end; he'd made a truce with the Slayer in order to save the world and his Dru, going against his own Sire to do so; he kept his word ninety percent of the time, the other ten percent being only if he felt there was an exceptionally strong reason to break it; and he absolutely loved Disney movies.   
  


**Maybe that's what I need,** he thought, rising to his feet to return the trash can and Dustbuster to the kitchen. **A nice, hour and a half break in front of the...broken television.**   
  


Spike cursed fluently. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Higher Learning LXII - Having a Cuppa**

  
  


Spike kissed her. "I love you! I love you! I love you!"   
  


"Spike, it's only a television," Joyce said, laughing lightly at his actions. She shook her head in a motherly fashion. "Now, if only my daughter would greet me that way..."   
  


The blond vampire grinned at her. "Joyce, your daughter is a-"   
  


"Spike," she warned.   
  


"-Wonderful girl," Spike finished with a wink.   
  


"That's right, she is," Joyce said. She gestured to the back of her forerunner, which was backed up to the open garage door. "I hope I got one that you wanted. I asked the salesman, and he said as long as you have all the receipts, you can bring it back."   
  


Spike followed her over to the back of the automobile and hefted the brand new, boxed television out of the trunk. "This'll be lovely, Joyce," he told her. He started back towards the door to the house. "Would you like to come in for a cuppa?"   
  


"I'd love one," Joyce replied, shutting the trunk and following him inside. "As long as I get the grand tour."   
  


"I think that can be arranged," he said.   
  


Joyce closed the door behind her and set her purse down on the kitchen table, glancing at the neatly stacked workbooks and papers sitting side-by-side on the otherwise pristine surface. Two pencils were lined up perfectly beneath them. She headed in the direction Spike had gone with the television, entering the foyer and then the living room, looking over everything with a curious eye as she went from room to room.   
  


"Do you have a cleaning service?" she asked, noting the supreme neatness of the home.   
  


"No," Spike answered. He set the television box in front of the entertainment center. He'd already put the old, broken television in the garage to be taken out with the trash. "And before you ask -- yes, I'm a bloody neatnick."   
  


Joyce smiled. "There's nothing wrong with that. I only wish my house looked half as good as this."   
  


Spike straightened and turned to her. "Now, how 'bout that tour?" he said, then gestured to the room he was in. "This is the living room."   
  


The Slayer's mother took in the soft beige carpeting, the pale blue walls, the boarded-over picture window behind a plush, light brown couch with a colorful throw across the back, flanked on either end by chestnut end-tables with a lamp adorning each. A matching chestnut coffee table sat in front of the couch and across the room rested a large, filled entertainment center, the only empty spot being where the new television was going to be. A neat stack of magazines sat on the coffee table, a precisely placed pad of paper and pen sat on one of the end tables, and a pretty, deep blue vase held a few violets rested on the other end table, which Joyce recognized as coming from the violet garden lining the front of the ranch house.   
  


Then she looked up. "What happened to your ceiling?"   
  


Spike raised his gaze to the hooks, strong bolts and two-inch rope holes that littered his living room ceiling. "Your daughter's what happened," he grumbled. "She and that bit- er, brunette Slayer stuck all my furniture on the ceiling the other night."   
  


Joyce smothered a smile. "And why did Buffy and Faith do something like that?"   
  


"Because they're mean," the blond vampire hedged.   
  


"Spike."   
  


"Fine. It's because I went and stole all of the Slayer's clothes and made those two twits embarrass themselves to get her stuff back," Spike told her.   
  


"So you're the one who did that," Joyce said. "It's a good thing Buffy didn't go through with all the gruesome things she ranted about for three solid hours, or I'd be attending your funeral."   
  


Spike shook his head and sighed. "These kids today..." He looked over at her and grinned rakishly, then gestured towards the foyer. "Shall we?"   
  


The tour ended back in the cheery kitchen a short time later. Spike put two mugs of water in the microwave as Joyce made herself comfortable at the kitchen table. He was feeling very domesticated, which would normally make him wince, but after his childish tantrum earlier that day -- and the fact that Joyce had gone out and bought him a new television -- he was happy for the company.   
  


Plus, the longer she stayed, the longer he could put off studying.   
  


"So, how long have you been here?" Joyce asked.   
  


"Since April," he replied, moving to the pantry to take out a box of cookies.   
  


"And why didn't you tell me you were living here again?"   
  


He gave her a sheepish look over his shoulder. "Sorry, luv. I didn't want your daughter knowing I was back in Sunnyhell."   
  


"I haven't told her that we've spoken on the phone numerous times," Joyce pointed out.   
  


"True," Spike agreed. "But I rang you at work, not home."   
  


"And you'd go on and on about this lovely 'friend' you never named the few times you called over the summer," Joyce said.   
  


Spike was thankful the microwave beeped. He busied himself with making the tea so he wouldn't have to face her. "Well...er...that is..."   
  


"I knew you had a crush," she said. "I just hadn't realized it was on Willow."   
  


The blond vampire scowled at her as he handed her the cup of tea. "I don't have a crush on Willow."   
  


"Mm-hmm." Joyce took a sip of the hot brew, giving him a motherly 'if you say so, dear' look over the rim of her mug.   
  


"I don't," Spike insisted, taking the seat across from her. "She's my friend, my closest one at that, but only a friend."   
  


"Spike, don't deny it. Willow is special to you," she said.   
  


"I'm not." He frowned down at his tea. "She's the best thing that's come into my unlife since..."   
  


"Since Drusilla," Joyce finished.   
  


"Yeah," he agreed sadly. "Since Dru."   
  


Joyce reached over and put her hand on his wrist, squeezing gently. "It's been nine months, Spike, since you called and told me you two broke up. It's okay to move on if you want to. Although I do think Willow's a little young for you."   
  


"By about a century or so." Spike raised his head and gave her a half-smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Doesn't matter, though, ducks. Kitten and I are just friends, no more, no less."   
  


"Well, as long as you're happy, that's all that really matters," Joyce said.   
  


"How someone as lovely as you ended up with an obnoxious twit of a daughter is bloody unfathomable," Spike said.   
  


Joyce's eyes sparkled as she picked up a cookie. "She takes after her father."   
  


Spike laughed and the two settled into a pleasant conversation that lasted the remainder of the afternoon.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXIII - Dinner With Her Parents**    
  


Willow wondered if gouging her eyes out with her fork would hurt. She was extremely tempted to find out. She loved her parents dearly, but being subjugated to dinner with them was a torture equal to that which Spike could devise.   
  


"We just want you to be prepared," Sheila Rosenberg told her daughter. "You are an adult now in the eyes of the law, and with becoming an adult comes responsibility."   
  


"She's still too young to be having sexual relations of any kind," Ira Rosenberg grumbled, stabbing a piece of fish with his fork.   
  


"Now Ira," Sheila said pacifistically. "We've raised Willow to be a mature, productive and responsible member of society. I'm certain she will not take the decision to engage in intercourse lightly." She looked at Willow. "Isn't that right dear?"   
  


"Right," Willow agreed. She smiled tightly and refrained from telling her parents that she'd already slept with all the men who's last name started with the letter 'A' and was currently working on the 'B.' It would be a major lie, considering she was still a member of the virgin brigade, but it may actually get them to stop lecturing. Of course, with her luck, the lecture would change from safe sex to the horrors of venereal disease complete with detailed symptoms guaranteed to make her throw up her fish dinner all over the dining room table.   
  


"Now, do you have a current suitor?" Sheila asked.   
  


"Well, I have a date on Sunday," Willow admitted, a real smile crossing her lips.   
  


"I trust it's not late on Sunday," Ira said. "You have classes on Monday. School is more important than boys."   
  


"Men, dear," Sheila corrected.   
  


"Don't remind me," Ira told her grumpily.   
  


"It's not late," Willow reassured her father. "Tris and I are only going to see a movie on the campus' big screen."   
  


"Tell us about this young man," Sheila prompted. "His name is Tris?"   
  


"Tristan Montgomery," Willow said. She knew the information her mother wanted and recited the facts in a precise order. "He's 21 and a junior majoring in architecture with a high GPA. He's from Eureka, and his parents are still married. This is our first date and I'm really looking forward to it."   
  


"He sounds nice, Willow," Sheila said.   
  


"Architecture, hmm?" Ira grunted. "Drawing is not a lucrative profession."   
  


"It's a highly specialized area, Dad," Willow said, defending Tristan's choice of major. "It takes five years of schooling to receive a degree in architecture and you have to take a three-day exam to get licensed."   
  


"Ignore your father, dear," Sheila told Willow. "He could find fault with the founder of Habitat for Humanity." She cut another piece of her dinner. "Now, do you have plans for this weekend? You know Ira and I are going to a convention in San Francisco early tomorrow morning and are staying overnight."   
  


"I know," Willow said, feeling guilty at the quick wish that they had left  _today_  instead of tomorrow morning. "I'm just going to visit with friends-"   
  


"Not that Bunny girl." Sheila tisked. "She's not a very good influence."   
  


"Yes, I'm going to see  _Buffy_. And Faith and Xander and Giles and Spike and we're going to have an orgy with lots of drugs and alcohol," Willow stated blithely. "Then I'm going to do my laundry."   
  


"Well, you are an adult now," Sheila said. "Your friends are your own to choose. Just remember that the company you keep reflects on you personally and professionally." She paused. "Did you say you were going to do laundry?"   
  


Willow rolled her eyes and her Mom's selective hearing. "Yes, I'm going to do laundry."   
  


"Be sure to use the Energy Saver if you're going to do multiple loads," Sheila told her.   
  


"Yes, Mom."   
  


"You would not believe how expensive it is for something as simple as doing a load of washing..."   
  


Willow wondered if it wasn't too late to purposely choke to death on a fish bone.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXIV - Let's Talk About Sex, Baby**    
  


"Yo, Red, what up?" Faith asked cheerfully as Willow joined the table at the Bronze.   
  


"Is it still illegal to kill your parents?" Willow asked in reply.   
  


Buffy laughed. "I take it you got the sex lecture again."   
  


"Yep," Willow said. "Ever since I turned 18 it's been family dinner, lecture on-on... _that_."   
  


"Come on, girlfriend, you can say it," Faith said. She slowly sounded out the word. "Ssssss-ex."   
  


Willow blushed. "Faith."   
  


"Sssss-ex," Faith repeated. "Sssss-ex." Buffy joined in. "Sssss-ex."   
  


"Fine!" Willow exclaimed. "Sex! Sex! Sex! Sex! Sex! You happy now?"   
  


"Depends on if that's an offer or not," Xander said from behind her.   
  


Willow squeaked and buried her bright red face in her hands as Faith and Buffy burst out laughing. "I hate you both," she whined loudly.   
  


"So, who's having sex and how can I get some?" Xander asked, pulling up a seat.   
  


"No one!" Willow exclaimed.   
  


"I can't have sex," Buffy said. "If I do, Angel will try and kill us all again."   
  


"That does sort of put a damper on the orgasmic festivities," Xander said.   
  


"Guys-" Willow pleaded, glancing around the filled to capacity Bronze in embarrassment.   
  


"I'd love to get me a little unh!" Faith grunted. "Sex-u-al feeling."   
  


"Isn't that a song?" Buffy asked. "Sexual feeling? I think I heard it on one of Mom's radio stations."   
  


"'I want your sex,'" Xander warbled. "'I want your lo-o-o-ove.'"   
  


"That's Mr. Whackin'-in-the-john George Michael," Faith said.   
  


"I think it goes 'I want to get some of that sexual feeling,'" Buffy crooned in a breathy, fake Marilyn Monroe voice.   
  


"Will you guys please stop?" Willow begged.   
  


"How 'bout this one?" Faith stood and started to dance dirty beside her chair. "'Let's talk about sex, bay-bee. Let's talk about you and me. Let's talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be. Let's talk about sex. Unh!'"   
  


"Hey baby," Xander said to Faith in a horrid accent. "How 'bout chew an' me go in the back of mah motor and you kin gimme some-a dat wahild thang?"   
  


"I was always partial to that song called 'Rub Me,'" Buffy said. "You know, 'come on and stroke and rub me the right way.'" She wiggled her brows. "Angel sure does."   
  


Faith chortled. "So you and sexy-vamp do that whole touchy-feely-bitey-"   
  


"But no sex-y thing? Yeah," Buffy replied. "It...well, he," she grinned wolfishy, "sucks."   
  


Xander shuddered. "Now that's something I never wanted to know about you and Goldenfang, Buffster."   
  


"Jealous?" Buffy asked sweetly.   
  


"Yup." Xander nodded. "I want me a huge beefstud like Angel to call my very own."   
  


"I didn't know you swung that way, Xand," Faith said.   
  


"I'd swing any way if it got me sex," Xander said with a grin.   
  


"Will you guys stop talking about sex!?" Willow exclaimed loudly...   
  


...At the exact same moment the music stopped.   
  


All eyes turned to stare at the redhead, who shrunk down on her stool, her face matching her hair. "I hate all three of you," she muttered.   
  


Buffy, Faith and Xander just gave her innocent smiles. 

 

* * *

  


**Higher Learning LXV - Tennis Match**  

  
  


"So, Wills, what are you doing tomorrow?" Buffy asked, glancing around the Bronze in a casual baddie check. She caught Xander pretending to stake himself as he waited in line at the bar for drinks.   
  


"I'm going over to Spike's at ten and, after his test, we'll probably spend the day together," Willow replied.   
  


"And night?" Faith said, waggling her brows. "In bed?"   
  


Willow blushed. "Faith, Spike and I... we don't... we're just friends."   
  


"Friends fuck friends," Faith said with a wicked grin.   
  


Willow began to sputter.   
  


"Faith, we don't  _want_  Willow to have sex with Spike," Buffy said. "That's just... blech."   
  


"Blech?" Willow looked affronted. "Me having sex... see, I can say it... me having  _sex_  is blech?"   
  


"No!" Buffy replied quickly. "You having sex is not blech. You having sex is fine. You having sex with  _Spike_  is blech."   
  


"Why is me having sex with Spike blech?" Willow said. "He's nice and fun and sexy-"   
  


"And a vampire," Buffy interrupted.   
  


"You've had sex with a vampire," Willow said. "Does that make Angel blech?"   
  


Faith grinned as she looked at Buffy. This was like a tennis match, she thought.   
  


"It's different with Angel."   
  


Serve.   
  


"He's still a vampire."   
  


Return.   
  


"But he has a soul."   
  


Stroke.   
  


"Which he loses and turns into a homicidal maniac if he  _does_  have sex!"   
  


Slam.   
  


"And Spike is always a homicidal maniac!"   
  


Save.   
  


"But at least I know he won't try and kill me after we have sex."   
  


Point.   
  


"No, he'll probably kill you  _before_  you get that far."   
  


Set.   
  


"Well, we'll just see about that!" Willow jumped to her feet, her red hair flying around her, as she stormed away from the table.   
  


Match.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXVI - Vacuum Lines**    
  
  
  


Spike knelt down on the floor, bent forward and laid his cheek on the carpeting. Closing one eye, he looked down the beige track the vacuum cleaner had made.   
  


Then, he stood, started up the runner, and went over the carpet again.   
  


He could practically hear Aaron's raucous laughter and comments about the size of the pole up his arse. Well, bugger him. Unstraight vacuum lines got on his nerves.   
  


Besides he needed the break. He spent twenty-one-point-five minutes straight studying the last time around. His goal after he vacuumed was to reach a full twenty-two.   
  


There was no way in hell he was failing his test.   
  


Not after the dream he'd had.   
  


Joyce had left shortly before the sun had set to prepare dinner for Buffy and Faith. After Spike had done the dishes and cleaned off the table, he'd decided to catch a few z's because he knew he'd be up all night not studying for his level two reading exam.   
  


Falling to sleep had been no problem for him for once. Of course, if he'd known he was going to dream, he might of stopped sleeping altogether.   
  


Spike started vacuuming extra hard as the wisps of his dream came back to him. Willow's laughter drifted through his mind first, followed by the image of her vibrant red hair trailing down his chest. His muscles tensed as he felt the phantom woman's lips brushing over his bare skin, moving lower and lower. In his dream, her little hand then had wrapped around him and he could feel her hot breath, making him arch his hips towards the warm, wet cavern he wanted so badly to feel.   
  


Then, she had looked at him, smiled and said, "You failed," before she'd released him and flounced out of the bedroom.   
  


He'd woken up yelling her name in disbelief and raw need with a hard-on that could've punched holes through brick.   
  


Spike began to viciously swear as his foot became tangled in the vacuum cord because of his memories of the dream. He shut off the runner at the same time the doorbell pealed. He shook his leg, trying to unwrap the cord as he hobbled towards the front door. All he succeeded in doing was unplugging it and winding the black cord more tightly around his ankle.   
  


"Damn it, get off my leg, you bloody stupid cord!" Spike growled. The bell rang again, increasing his annoyance tenfold. He grabbed the doorhandle, twisted and yanked the door open. "Will you quit ri-"   
  


One hundred ten pounds of red-headed witch came flying at him, cutting him off mid-word. He staggered back on impact, the cord tripping him up, and the two of them crashed to the foyer floor.   
  


Spike's arms went automatically around her, trying to cushion the fall with his body. He hit the floor with a grunt, Willow flat on top of him.   
  


"You okay, kitten?" he asked immediately.   
  


Willow dropped her knees to either side of him and put her hands flat on the floor by his head to push her self up slightly. He saw her eyes flashing with angry green and silver specks, and he briefly wondered if he'd made her mad.   
  


"I'll show her blech!" Willow exclaimed, confusing the hell out of him.   
  


"You'll do wha-"   
  


Spike's questions was abruptly interrupted by Willow's tongue plunging into his open mouth.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXVII - She Thought, He Thought**    
  
  
  


**Oh my goddess,** Willow thought. **I'm kissing Spike!  _I'm_  kissing  _him_! That's my tongue in his mouth! Oh my goddess! I can't believe I'm doing this! And he's kissing me back! That's his tongue brushing against mine and making my toes tingle. I have tingly toes. And tingly lips. I wonder if his lips are all tingly? They're nice and firm and pressed against mine, but are they tingly? What if it's one-way tingliness?   
  


**Oh wow, can he kiss good. He gets an A-plus in kissing. I wonder if I'll be able to grade his test fairly tomorrow? Does kissing count as bribing the teacher? Boy, I bet he could teach me a few thing about kissing and stuff. He's only had a couple hundred years of practice. Gosh, I wonder how many girls he's kissed? Or boys, cause he's a vampire and they do that sort of cross-kissing. I know he's kissed Angel. Ooh, naughty image there. Bad, Willow. Bad, bad, baaaaaad, Willow. Angel, Buffy, not Angel, Spike. Oh, but to see all that yummy naked vampire goodness. Angel, naked. Spike, naked. Oh boy, I'm going to pass out now. Yep, I'm going to keel over into unconsciousness, right in the middle of kissing Spike.   
  


**Oh goddess, I'm kissing Spike! I'm kissing Spike and imagining him naked! This is Spike! My friend -- my best friend -- not the man I'm supposed to be playing smoochie with or picturing naked. This is all Buffy's fault. Evil Slayer woman. Make me come over here because she said me having sex with Spike is blech. Me and Spike having sex is not blech. Me and Spike having sex...   
  


**Oh my goddess! What am I doing?! What am I thinking?! Me and Spike and sex should not be put together in a sentence! He doesn't think of me in sex-like ways. He thinks of me in the best  _friend_  way, and here I am, kissing him like a... like a floozy! He's probably only kissing me back to save me from embarrassment. Oh goddess, he's pity kissing me! This is not good. I am  _so_  embarrassed. How am I going to face him after this? This is bad. This is very, very bad.**   
  


**Sweet mercy,** Spike thought. Then he stopped thinking altogether.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXVIII - Panic**    
  
  
  


Willow felt her face flaming as she pulled herself away from Spike. She didn't dare look at him as she scrambled off his body and to her feet. She couldn't believe she just embarrassed herself by kissing him like that. She couldn't believe she literally threw herself at him and kissed him like a hussy or a... a... tart! **I really needed to stop watching old movies with the gang at school.**   
  


"I'm sorry... it's all Buffy's fault... I'm going now... see you tomorrow -- oh goddess, tomorrow!... um, going now... bye," Willow babbled rapidly. Then, she turned and ran out the open front door.   
  


"Willow!" Spike exclaimed, trying to get to his feet as the redhead disappeared into the night. The cord still wrapped around his leg, however, had other ideas. He managed to get two steps before he fell, face first, back to the floor. He grunted as a certain very hard portion of his anatomy was squashed under him.   
  


He turned over, sat up and started to unwind the cord from his leg. "Bloody... damn... cord," Spike growled between his tightly clenched teeth. When he finally was free, he jumped to his feet and was out the door in seconds, barely remembering to yank it shut behind him.   
  


Spike would have sworn that he'd catch up with Willow, but as he turned down her street, he had yet to see her. His sock-clad feet pounded minimally on the pavement and then across the grass as he ran up to her balcony doors. There was no light on in her room, but that didn't mean she wasn't in there.   
  


"Willow," Spike tapped on the glass of the French doors. "Let me in."   
  


There was no answer.   
  


He grabbed the handle and wasn't too surprised to find it unlocked. She'd once told him that she always kept the doors unlocked because she was constantly coming in and out at all hours of the night while helping to save the world. He'd told her it wasn't safe, but then she'd reminded him that there was no real criminals in Sunnydale because they got eaten if they were out trying to burgularize at night.   
  


"Kitten?" he called quietly as he stuck his head into the room. She wasn't there and, from the open bag on her bed, she hadn't been there since she'd gotten home from school.   
  


Panic immediately ran through him. He should have been able to catch up with her and he hadn't, and she wasn't home. What if she'd been attacked? What if she was lying somewhere, dead? What if it was a vampire? What if she was in the middle of being turned right now and the next time he saw her, she'd be like him?   
  


"No," Spike growled, turning and running even faster back the way he'd come, his yellow eyes searching the darkened streets. He didn't want his Willow to become a vampire. He liked her all warm and caring and soul-having. He liked her awkwardness and innocence and sweetness and pure Willowness. He was a great, big poof, just like his bloody Sire, when it came to her... and that was perfectly fine with him.   
  


**Buffy!** Spike thought, almost skidding across the pavement in his haste to change directions. There was no doubt in his mind that the Slayer would aid him, enemies or not. And if she wasn't home, Joyce would help him find the little twat so she could help him find his Willow.   
  


It took him less than five minutes running at full speed for him to be at the Summers' house. He hopped over the back railing and banged on the kitchen door, startling Joyce, who he could see through the window. He tried the handle, but the door was locked. "Joyce, let me in!"   
  


Joyce quickly walked to the door and opened it. "Spike, what's wrong?"   
  


"Is the Slayer here? I need her right now. Willow ran off and I think she got attacked because I didn't catch up with her and she wasn't at home and I don't  _want_  her to be a soddin' vampire, I want her to stay Willowy, but if I don't find her, she won't stay like that, and I need the bloody Slayer's help to find my kitten-"   
  


"Spike, stop," Joyce interrupted the game-faced vampire's fast-paced speech. "You're not making any sense. Take a deep breath and tell me what you need -- slowly."   
  


"I need the Slayer," Spike repeated, his voice tight with panic. "I need her to help me find Willow."   
  


"Willow's here," Joyce said. "She arrived just a few minutes ago. They're up in Buffy's room if you want to go-"   
  


Spike dashed past her into the house.   
  


"-up and see them," Joyce finished. She shook her head and shut the door. "I will never understand vampires."   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXIX - Beyond A Closed Door**    
  
  
  


Spike was about to shove open the Slayer's closed bedroom door when he heard his Willow's sweet voice. He literally slumped in relief, his yellow eyes falling shut as his hand fell from the doorknob. He leaned forward slightly, resting his ridged forehead against the wood door, and just listened to her agitated speaking as he tried to bring himself back under control.   
  


"Willow-"   
  


"Don't you 'Willow' me, Buffy!" Spike heard Willow say through the door. "It's your fault that I kissed him! And don't think I don't hear you laughing, Faith."   
  


"Sorry, Red," Faith answered, amusement heavy in her voice as it also drifted through the closed door to Spike. "But it is pretty laugh-worthy."   
  


"No, it's not!" Willow exclaimed. "I kissed Spike! That's just...just...just  _bad_! As is not good... and wrong... and very, very bad!"   
  


Spike was stunned. Willow's quite unexpected kiss had been a shock, but he didn't think it had been a  _bad_  thing. Hell, his body had stood up, applauded enthusiastically and had wanted an encore that involved much more kissing and a lot less clothing.   
  


"Didn't you enjoy it?" Faith asked with skepticism.   
  


"No, I didn't enjoy it! I'm embarrassed beyond belief!" Willow replied. "How am I going to face him tomorrow morning, huh? How am I going to look him in the eye and tell him that I kissed him because I was mad, not because I wanted to kiss him?"   
  


A knot formed in Spike's throat as he pushed himself away from Buffy's bedroom door. He made his way rapidly back up the hall and down the stairs, wondering if the unbelievable pain squeezing his heart would kill him before he was able to leave the Summers' house.   
  


"Is everything okay, Spike?" Joyce asked from the living room.   
  


"Yeah," Spike replied, forcing himself to respond. "Everything's peachy."   
  


"Well, don't be a stranger," Joyce told him as she came into the foyer.   
  


Spike shook his head as he pulled open the front door, being careful not to look at her. "I won't. Night, Joyce."   
  


"Goodnight, Spike," Joyce said.   
  


The blond vampire quickly left the house before Joyce noticed the pain etched across his human features. He wasn't up for hot chocolate and sharing. He didn't know what he'd tell Joyce, anyway. Sure, he liked Willow a lot, but that didn't explain his feelings of heartache over what he'd heard.   
  


"Oh, bloody hell, I'm getting soft," Spike grumbled to himself. "Running after a silly little mortal -- in my stocking feet, for chrissakes -- all because she kissed me, then took off. It wasn't that good of a soddin' kiss anyway. She didn't enjoy it, and I definitely didn't enjoy it. My days are  _not_  going to be filled tossin' off to the memories of her body on top of me and how perfectly she straddled me, or the feel of her tongue in my mouth, rubbin' against mine and makin' my toes tingle, or how she tasted like chocolate and mocha and that cinnamon toothpaste she uses, or how frickin' good she smelled..."   
  
  
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXX - Behind A Closed Door II**    
  
  
  


"Willow-"   
  


"Don't you 'Willow' me, Buffy!" Willow aimed an angry finger at the blond Slayer sitting on the bed. "It's your fault that I kissed him!" She whirled and glared at the brunette sitting at the desk. "And don't think I don't hear you laughing, Faith."   
  


"Sorry, Red," Faith said, a huge grin on her face. "But it is pretty laugh-worthy."   
  


"No, it's not!" Willow exclaimed. "I kissed Spike! That's just...just...just  _bad_! As is not good... and wrong... and very, very bad!"   
  


"Didn't you enjoy it?" Faith asked with skepticism.   
  


"No, I didn't enjoy it! I'm embarrassed beyond belief!" Willow replied. She began to pace back and forth in front of Buffy's bed. "How am I going to face him tomorrow morning, huh? How am I going to look him in the eye and tell him that I kissed him because I was mad, not because I wanted to kiss him?"   
  


"Willow, don't worry," Buffy said. "Tell him it was a bet or a dare or something. It's just Spike."   
  


"But I was having naughty naked thoughts about him while we were kissing!"   
  


Buffy's and Faith's mouths dropped open.   
  


"Hot diggity damn!" Faith recovered first, slapping her leg. "Shy little Red wants to have wild monkey sex with the peroxide stud-vampire."   
  


Willow turned beet red for the millionth time that night. "Yes! I mean, no!"   
  


Faith laughed loudly. "Nice slip of the tongue, Red."   
  


The redhead sank to the floor and covered her face with her hands. "What am I going to do? Spike is my friend and I was having thoughts I shouldn't be having about a friend. That's like having naked thoughts about Xander."   
  


Buffy grimaced and Faith's mouth curved up in a sly smile. "Are we talking the full on monty naked here?" the brunette Slayer asked.   
  


"Faith!" Buffy exclaimed. "Eew!"   
  


Faith shrugged and refocused on the hacker. "So, Willow, babe, you gonna find out if that hunk of white chocolate male looks as good naked in the flesh, so to say, as in your head?"   
  


"You know, I thought of yummy white chocolate, too, when I was kissing him," Willow said conversationally as she raised her head. Then, her eyes widened as she realized what she'd just said and made sounds of panic.   
  


"Calm down, Willow," Buffy said, moving to the floor to sit beside her friend. "It's not that horrible. Okay, Spike, big ick factor on the whole smoochie thing you did with him, but that's my Slayer opinion, not my girly opinion."   
  


"What's your girly opinion?" Willow asked.   
  


"Oh, come on, have you seen that vampire with his shirt off?" Buffy said. "I'd have to be a eunuch not to think lusty about that man."   
  


"But what about Angel?"   
  


"You want Angel to think lusty thoughts about Spike?" Buffy asked, staring in shock at Willow.   
  


Faith snorted.   
  


"No!" Willow said. "Spike and Angel don't think about each other like that anymore... well, except for that one time when Spike was in a sharing mood and he had to adjust himself a couple times as he told me about..." She saw the look Buffy was giving her. "...Um, never mind."   
  


Faith joined them on the floor, a wicked expression on her face. "You can tell me, Red. I want all the juicy slashy details. With diagrams if possible."   
  


"Faith!" Buffy glared at her sister Slayer. "This is my boyfriend you're wanting to hear about."   
  


"So?"   
  


"So no!" Buffy said. "No thinking or talking or diagraming of Angel with anyone except me!"   
  


"But Buffy can't boff the buff boy's big boner." Faith grinned. "Hee."   
  


Willow burst into giggles, followed closely by Faith letting go with her raucous laughter. Buffy sputtered for several seconds before she gave in and joined her friends.   
  


Finally, Faith brought them all back around to the conversation. "Okay, Red, truth time. What's the real deal? You didn't enjoy the kiss because you were embarrassed or you are embarrassed because you didn't enjoy the kiss?"   
  


"Huh?" Buffy said. "That's the same question twice."   
  


"No, it ain't," Faith said. She gestured to Willow. "Brainiac here knows what I asked."   
  


"Yes, I get it, and it's the first one," Willow said. "Spike kisses really, really, really good, but I can't sit here in blissful enjoyment of the memory because I'm so totally embarrassed that I pounced on him like a... like a... like you, Faith."   
  


"Thanks." Faith puffed up proudly.   
  


Buffy rolled her eyes at Faith and turned to Willow. "I have a question. Would you do it again without the whole embarrassment thing?"   
  


"Well, yeah," Willow said. "If he really wanted to kiss me, which he doesn't. Spike's made it way clear that he only thinks of me as a best friend and not a potential smoochie partner."   
  


"Then you have no problem," Buffy said. "Go the 'it was a bet' route, you both get a laugh over it and move on."   
  
  
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXXI - Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap...**    
  
  
  


"It was a bet."   
  


Willow dropped her eyes to Spike's bare feet and bit her lower lip. She stood just inside the front door, having arrived at Spike's house at ten o'clock on the dot, Saturday morning, as planned. The first words out of her mouth had been what Buffy had told her to say instead of a normal greeting that almost all people used.   
  


"A bet," Spike said without inflection.   
  


"Uh, yeah," Willow said, keeping her eyes cast down. "A bet. That's what it was. Just a bet."   
  


"Did you win?"   
  


"W-win?" Willow nodded quickly. "Yes, I won."   
  


"What?"   
  


"What what?" Willow raised her head to look at him in confusion. The second she met his emotionless blue eyes, she wished she hadn't. He looked so...cold.   
  


"What did you win?" Spike asked.   
  


"What did I win? What do you mean... oh! The bet. Yeah, the bet," Willow said, wracking her brain. "I won... uh..." She glanced down and saw her bright blue fingernails with butterfly stickers on them, courtesy of Shay Lin's boredom on Thursday night. "A manicure! See?"   
  


"Looks nice," Spike commented, glancing at the hand she waved under his nose. He turned and headed for the kitchen without another word.   
  


Willow stared after him, puzzled by his behavior. She expected laughter or some ribbing at her expense, not the cold shoulder. She quickly went after him and found him sitting at the kitchen table, idly tapping a sharpened pencil on the spotless surface.   
  


"Spike, is something wrong?" she asked as she set her backpack down on the table across from him.   
  


"Why would there be?" Spike said.   
  


"I don't know," Willow replied. "You're just acting all weird."   
  


Spike shrugged and changed the rhythm of his tapping pencil.   
  


Willow searched his face for some sign of what was going on, but it was as if he was wearing a blank mask. Dropping her eyes, she pressed her lips together as she began to take out the test things she'd brought. She began to wince each time the pencil hit the hard surface of the table.   
  


Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...   
  


"Stop it!" Willow exclaimed suddenly, her head jerking up. The pencil flew out of Spike's hand and impaled itself in the wood boarded over the kitchen window.   
  


Spike arched his scarred brow at her, but said nothing.   
  


Willow exploded. "What is wrong with you?! Is it because I kissed you? I said it was a bet! It didn't mean anything! You should be laughing at my embarrassment, not doing the whole stoic guy routine. Friends laugh at friends when they do something stupid. And we're friends, right?"   
  


When Spike didn't answer her immediately, she felt as though someone punched her in the gut, knocking all the air out of her. She felt her lower lip start to tremble and she dropped her chin as her vision became blurred. "Oh. I'm sorry. I'll just..."   
  


She didn't bother to finish her sentence as she picked up her backpack, uncaring that it was still open and its contents were spilling out. She headed out of the kitchen in as dignified of an exit as she could make it.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXXII - Lost Chances**    
  
  
  


Spike watched as Willow left the kitchen, papers falling from her backpack, and he cursed. Why the hell was he acting like such a prick? She was giving him an easy way to continue their friendship without the awkwardness of a mistaken kiss hanging over their heads, and he was pushing her away. She didn't know that he'd overheard her telling the two Slayers that she thought kissing him was disgusting. She didn't know that her words had an effect on him he hadn't realized was possible, as well as cutting his male pride to ribbons.   
  


And, if he didn't go after her that instant, he'd lose his best friend on top of the chance he'd already lost in furthering their relationship. A chance, until early that morning, he hadn't realized he'd wanted.   
  


But that possibility had been quashed already, and he was about to drive Willow out of his unlife entirely if he didn't get off his butt and go after her. His plans for doing exactly that flew out the window at the bleak thought of never seeing her again.   
  


"Willow, wait!" Spike called, bolting from his seat and tearing out of the kitchen. He caught her by the backpack just as she was going out the front door and into the sunlight. With a hard yank, she was pulled back into the safety of the house and right back into his arms.   
  


"Spike!" Willow squeaked in surprise.   
  


Spike wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight against him, her back to his chest. "I'm sorry, kitten," he said. "I'm being a bloody pillock and cocking up the best part of my unlife."   
  


He sighed and released her. "I'm stressed," he lied, taking a step back as she turned around. He gave her a half-smile. "I don't want you to be disappointed in me." That part, at least, was the truth.   
  


"So, you're not upset over the... the two pairs of lips thing?" Willow asked, looking up at him with her slightly teary green eyes.   
  


"No," Spike shook his head, "there's nothing to be upset about. It was a bet and I helped you win it, like chums are supposed to do, eh?"   
  


"Like friends are supposed to do," Willow agreed. "And we're friends, right?"   
  


"The best," Spike immediately replied.   
  


The smile that lit up her face was like pouring acid on an open wound. Spike wondered how he was going to make it through the rest of the day, let alone the rest of her life being just friends with her. As he gestured for her to lead the way back to the kitchen, he mentally cursed himself for being so stupid and not just letting her go.   
  


Joyce was wrong in saying he had a crush on Willow.   
  


He didn't have a crush.   
  


He was in love with her.   
  


* * *


	7. Chapter 7

**Higher Learning LXXIII - Stay**    
  
  
  


 _I am an ass_.   
  


That's what Spike felt should be tattooed across his forehead. Why did he have to do something so utterly dumb? He was supposed to love Willow like a friend or a kid sister, not love her like a... lover.   
  


Somehow he was going to blame Buffy and his Sire for this.   
  


Spike looked across the kitchen table at the redhead and cursed silently, but fluently. **Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid...**   
  


"Okay, Sexy Knickers, are you ready to start?" Willow asked, raising her eyes from the test she was looking over a final time.   
  


"Yes," Spike croaked. **Oh, nice one.** He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yes."   
  


Willow smiled encouragingly at him. It was like pouring salt on an open wound.   
  


**I am an ass,** Spike thought derisively. **A bloody moronic ass.**   
  


Willow stood and walked around the table. "The first test is in oral reading," she said as she set stapled papers in front of him. "You have ten minutes to read it silently, then you'll read it out loud to me."   
  


"Right," Spike said, wondering if it wasn't too late to run screaming into the sunlight. Why did he agree to do this again?   
  


**Because you love her,** a little voice -- which sounded remarkably like Aaron's -- chimed in his head.   
  


Willow's brows furrowed when Spike growled at the papers in front of him. **Did he not want to do this?** she wondered. "Spike?"   
  


"Hmm?" Spike glanced up from the first test, a scowl on his face.   
  


"Uh, did you... do you want to do this?" she asked. "You don't have to. It's not like it really counts or something. It's just a silly test I made up because, you know, I thought that... well, you don't have to take it."   
  


"Willow," Spike said. "I said I'd take it, and I will."   
  


"Oh, okay," Willow said. "I just... I didn't want to force you to do something you don't want to do. Not that I could actually  _force_  you to do anything, cause vampire... but if you don't want to, don't. I won't mind. You do this for yourself, not for me. I'll like you no matter what."   
  


Willow twisted her hands at the oddly-pained look he was giving her. **This day is not going well,** she thought. **First there's the whole kissing thing to get over -- goddess, I'm still so embarrassed about that -- then I thought he wanted me to go, then he wants me to stay, now he's acting all woogie again. Maybe I should just go.**   
  


"You know, maybe I should just go," Willow said, voicing her thoughts. "We can do this another weekend, if you want. I just... this is awkward. I don't know if you want me to be here. So I'm going to go. I have laundry anyway."   
  


"Kitten, I want you to be here," Spike said slowly, as if each word was being dragged out of him. "I want you..."   
  


Willow's eyes grew round as he stopped speaking, his own blue eyes reflecting something that looked like... **Hunger?!**   
  


Spike yanked his gaze away from Willow and he finished in a thick voice, "...to stay."   
  


"Are you sure?" she asked once more.   
  


"Yes."   
  


He refused to look at her, which did nothing to reassure Willow. Tentatively, she touched his cheek. "Spike?"   
  


Spike let out a strangled groan and moved suddenly, pulling her down onto his lap as he stopped fighting against himself. Hell, he was a demon. He could do whatever he bloody well wanted. And he wanted to kiss her, whether she liked it or not.   
  


So he did.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXXIV - The Kiss**    
  
  
  


Spike couldn't believe he was kissing her.   
  


Willow couldn't believe he was kissing her.   
  


Spike never wanted to stop.   
  


Willow didn't want him to stop.   
  


Spike was getting painfully hard beneath his jeans.   
  


Willow felt like her insides were melting.   
  


Spike wanted her.   
  


Willow couldn't get close enough to him.   
  


Spike moaned when she wiggled on his lap.   
  


Willow felt something hard under her when she wiggled on his lap and wondered if he had rocks in his pocket.   
  


Spike was going to die... again.   
  


Willow was finding that breathing was soon to become necessary.   
  


Spike realized that breathing for her was soon to become necessary.   
  


But neither of them stopped kissing.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXXV - Her Inner Voice**    
  
  
  


Willow sucked in a huge gulp of air when Spike finally broke the kiss. She stared at him owlishly as she tried to wrap her mind around what just happened.   
  


**Well, duh, he kissed you!** her inner voice said. **No! He  _devoured_  you!**   
  


"Wha-what was that for?" she stammered when she could speak again.   
  


**Cause he wants to screw you to the floor,** her inner voice told her. **Don't you feel what you're sitting on? It's big and hard and-**   
  


Willow slapped a mental hand over her inner voice's mouth. "Spike?"   
  


"Because I wanted to," Spike growled at her. "I'm a demon and we do that sort of thing."   
  


Willow gave him a strange look. "You kissed me because you're a demon?"   
  


"Yes." He nodded his head emphatically.   
  


"So, if you weren't a demon, you wouldn't kiss me?" Willow asked, not sure if she was understanding what he was getting at.   
  


**That could be because your brains have turned to mush because of that kiss,** her inner voice informed her dryly.   
  


"Yes... no... yes... aargh." Spike grunted, his brows furrowing. He was having his own trouble with brain mushiness. Finally, he gave up trying to speak and kissed her again.   
  
  
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXXVI - Roller Coaster of Emotions**    
  
  
  


Spike angled his mouth over Willow's, his tongue sweeping into the hot cavern. His fingers clenched reflexively, curling around the material of her shirt. Willow's own hands were twisting the front of his tee, almost choking him, as she kissed him back.   
  


The entire world disappeared around him. All he knew was that his kitten was on his lap and he was kissing her again and she was returning his kiss with equal fervor. Her tongue continually twined with his in a sensual dance that sent shivers down his spine.   
  


Spike was the one panting when they finally broke apart. He sucked in purposeful gulps of air, trying to regain his bearings. Everything was fuzzy around the edges, with the only thing in perfect focus being Willow.   
  


"Wow," Willow breathed, a slightly dazed expression on her face. "I think I like your being a demon."   
  


"What?" Spike frowned. "You think you..." He shook his head a little, trying to rattle his brains back into functioning. It didn't seem to work. "What?"   
  


"You, demon, kissing me because you're a demon," Willow said. "And that's what demon's do."   
  


"That's what demons... what?" Spike looked at Willow, befuddlement clearly written across his features, and he abruptly blurted, "I can't get my brain to work."   
  


Willow made strange snorting noises, her lower lip trembling rapidly, and Spike grew fearful that something was wrong. "Kitten, are you okay?" he asked with worry.   
  


In response, the redhead threw her head back and let out a peal of laughter. Spike had to tighten his hold on her quickly as she almost fell off his lap. **Why is she laughing? Is she laughing at me? Bloody hell, I bet she is. She's laughing because my kissing her was... laughable. Damn.**   
  


"Oh goddess, you should have seen your face," Willow said when she somewhat calmed. "Not like you could have because of that whole lack of reflection thing, but if you could, you would have laughed, too."   
  


"You're laughing at me," Spike said, feeling a ball of unhappiness forming in the center of his chest. He'd much rather have had her running away again in disgust than laughing.   
  


"Yes," Willow said with a giggle. "I can't help it. You looked so stunned, like Wyle E. Coyote does just before he plummets to the ground after his Roadrunner trap backfires."   
  


"Well, I'm glad my kissing you puts you in stitches," Spike said, hiding his emotions with anger. He stood quickly and set her on her feet, then crossed to the other side of the kitchen to put distance between them. "I'd hate to see how you'd react if I made love to you."   
  


The silence from behind him was so sudden it was as if a switch had been flipped. Spike turned around and saw Willow staring at him, wide-eyed. He frowned at her again. "What's wrong now?"   
  


"Do you want to?" Willow asked in a small voice in return. She didn't know whether he meant it or was just making flip statements because he was upset about something. She also didn't know if she wanted him to mean it or not, especially if it meant finding out by demonstration while he was angry. **Angry vampire and sex equals pain and that's bad. Even Buffy says it's bad and she has super-Slayer tolerance. Wait a minute, Buffy shouldn't know about having angry sex! Mental note: find out why Buffy knows about angry vampire sex.**   
  


"Do I want to what?" Spike replied, irritation evident in his voice.   
  


"What you said." Willow dropped her eyes and hugged her arms around her waist at his exasperated look in response. She really wanted to get off this roller coaster of emotions known as Spike's Behavior. "Spike, I'm confused and I don't like it. You're grouchy, then you kiss me, then you're demon-growly, then you kiss me again and now you're back to being grouchy."   
  


"What, I'm not allowed to have emotions?" Spike snapped. "I have to be Mr. Shiny-Happy-Vampire all the bloody time?" He mock-groveled to her. "Well, excuuuuuuse me, Willow. I don't work like that. I have the same effin' feelings that every other bloke has. I get confused and hurt and upset, too, and I don't have anyone I trust enough to tell me what to do about it."   
  


"You have me," Willow said.   
  


"You're the soddin' problem!" Spike exclaimed. "You're the reason I'm stuck on the shitty end of the emotional scale and I hate it!"   
  


Willow felt as though someone reached into her heart and ripped it out. Tears filled her eyes instantly and she squeezed her arms around herself even tighter.   
  


Spike began to pace, his footsteps hard on the kitchen floor. "I missed you so frickin' much and I wanted this weekend to be perfect, but no, I had to be an ass and cock it up by realizing I'm in love with my best friend who gets either disgusted or laughs when I kiss her!"   
  


"What?" Willow said in a stunned whisper.   
  


Spike didn't hear her as he continued to rant, although it was more to himself than to her. "Why couldn't you just stay food? I haven't been this fucked up since Dru decided I wasn't demon enough for her. Ha! Now it's not because I'm not demon enough, it's because I'm not man enough! I can't win!"   
  


"I think I need to sit," Willow mumbled, the world tilting crazily around her. Her heart now felt as though it was in a vice and she was having quite a bit of trouble breathing -- all because of what Spike possibly had said.   
  


The chair scraped loudly on the kitchen floor when Willow grabbed the back of it when her knees decided to no longer work.   
  


Spike's gaze whipped to her when he heard the noise and he frowned because of how unsteady she looked. "You okay?" he asked.   
  


Willow raised her eyes to meet his and blinked rapidly against the colorful specks of light dancing in her vision. "Um, Spike, could you, ah, repeat what you said a moment ago? Th-the best friend part?" she requested as she continued to breathe quickly through her mouth.   
  


"Best friend part?" Spike pursed his lips as he tried to recall what he'd said. **Rant, rant, Dru made me loony, rave, whine, missed Willow, rant, complain, I'm an ass in love with my... best... friend...**   
  


Spike swallowed heavily and dropped his chin, staring purposely down at the floor in hopes that it would open up under him. He hadn't wanted her to know that little fact. "I hate you, Angelus," he grumbled. "Somehow it's all your bloody fault."   
  


"Spike?"   
  


Spike looked up at Willow's tentative call of his name and his metaphorical breath was taken away. Her red hair was disheveled and her lips slightly swollen from his kisses. Her green eyes were luminous and had a myriad of emotions flashing in them.   
  


His body hardened swiftly and he was filled with longing for her. "You're so beautiful," he said quietly. He swallowed again and forced himself to look away, saying roughly, "This was a mistake. You should go."   
  


"Why?"   
  


"Because I'm in love with you, damn it!" Spike exclaimed, his eyes shooting back to meet hers. "And I'm  _not_  going to put myself through that hell again of loving someone who doesn't love me back."   
  


His voice became harsher as memories and old heartbreaks overlapped with his current state of emotionality. "I've done it twice before and both times it nearly destroyed me. I won't survive a third time. I need you to go away while the feelings are still new, and maybe I'll be able to delude myself that this isn't love, it's jealousy of your school chums or because I missed you or because I'm going batty from not killing anyone."   
  


A desperate note crept into his speech. "Please, just go, kitten. Just go."   
  


Willow looked at him for a long, silent moment and the tilting world suddenly seemed to click into place. Everything became sharp and clear, and she could feel nature's power filling her as she pulled herself to her full height and held her head high.   
  


She moved then, walking right up into his personal space, making him literally back against the wall. His eyes were bright with confusion and longing and love, and she met them without hesitation or hidden emotion. The single word she spoke next was filled with firmness and certainty, indicating she knew exactly what she was doing.   
  


"No."   
  


Willow then snagged the front of his shirt, went up onto her toes and kissed him.   
  


Spike whimpered in the back of his throat an instant before he wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her flush against him. He almost melted into an unmanly puddle when her questing tongue slipped between his lips and caressed his palate. She led the kiss, ensnaring the back of his hair to hold his head firmly as she deepened it, and there was nothing he could do but try and keep up with the havoc she was creating with his senses.   
  


Eventually, Willow broke away and opened her eyes. She met his heavy-lidded, desire-filled gaze and smiled. Releasing his shirt, she brought her hand up to cup his cheek and her smile grew when he nuzzled her palm.   
  


"I guess this means I should cancel my date," Willow murmured. Spike's lips curled back in a small snarl and she laughed lightly. "I take it that's a yes."   
  


Spike swept her up into his arms before she could even blink. "That's a hell yes."   
  


Then he carried her back to his bedroom and proceeded to show her that he would be the only person she'd be dating for a very, very long time.   
  


 

* * *

  
  


**Higher Learning LXXVII - Six Months Later**    
  
  
  


Spike softly read the text in front of him, his low voice the only sound in the room except for the turning of pages, the quiet clicks of a keyboard and the scratching of a pen on paper. He frowned heavily when came upon a word he didn't recognize and he struggled to sound it out for several seconds before he tilted the book towards the person on his left. "What's this say?"   
  


"'Heinous acts,'" Faith read. "It means the dude is just like you used to be."   
  


"Used to, pet?" Spike glared at her.   
  


"Don't tease the big bad vampire, Faith," Buffy said with a grin as she looked up from the book open in her lap. "He'll get all pouty, and there's nothing scarier than a pouting demon."   
  


"Except a brooding one," Xander piped up from the other side of Giles's living room. Buffy shot a murderous look across the room at him.   
  


"Speaking of Angel," Giles said, causing Buffy to turn her glare on him. "When are he and Cordelia arriving?"   
  


"Their email said they left at seven," Willow replied, not raising her eyes from the computer screen. "If Cordy is driving, they should be here in about five more minutes. If Angel's driving, half-an-hour."   
  


"I don't see why we had to invite the great poof," Spike grumbled.   
  


"Uh, huge demon, lots of horns, plans on destroying the world, the reason that you're here and not out molesting innocent trees," Buffy said.   
  


"Hey, the only tree I molest on a regular basis is sittin' in front of that laptop over there," Spike said, gesturing towards Willow.   
  


Faith chortled loudly, Xander made disgusted noises, Buffy rolled her eyes, Giles sighed and Willow blushed bright red -- all typical reactions whenever Spike decided to join in helping to save the world.   
  


"Spike," Willow said in an embarrassed tone.   
  


Spike stood and walked over to where the redhead was seated. "What, it's the truth."   
  


"Yeah, but you don't see Angel saying things like that about Buffy," Willow pointed out.   
  


"What my Sire says about the Slayer isn't meant for young ears, luv," Spike whispered, leaning close to nip at  _her_  young ear. "All that sexual repression makes his tales on what he wants to do to her rather... colorful."   
  


"Is that all you two talk about when you stay with him?" Willow asked. "I still can't picture the two of you sitting around in your boxers and chatting...," her eyes widened and her blush grew, "...okay, I can, never mind."   
  


Spike clucked his tongue. "Huh-uh, kitten. No thinking about the wanker half-naked or even all-naked."   
  


"Cordelia, the white line around the edges of the stop sign does  _not_  mean stopping is optional," Angel said with frustration heavy in his voice as he and Cordelia walked into Giles's home without knocking.   
  


Willow took one look at the dark-haired vampire, squeaked and ducked her head. **Bad Willow. That's Buffy's Angel you're picturing in all his yummy naked goodness... eep!**   
  


Spike caught Willow's chin and tilted her face up to his. His lips pulled up in a partial smirk when he saw what she was thinking reflected clearly in her expression. "Shame on you, kitten, thinking about Angel like that. I'd best do something to push him out of your mind."   
  


He then proceeded to kiss her with a passion that drove everything out of her head, including the fact that she needed to breathe on occasion.   
  


"Don't those two ever do anything else?" Cordelia's voice cut into the couple's kiss, causing them to break apart. "They're worse than Angel and Buffy."   
  


"Hey, we do more than kiss!" Buffy said.   
  


"Oh, we all know that, B," Faith said, her words heavy with innuendo.   
  


"We know more than we  _want_  to know about you and blood-breath," Xander added.   
  


"Excuse me," Giles said. " But I think we have a more pressing matter to attend to th-than, er-"   
  


"B and the old man testing if the Viagra works?" Faith suggested impishly.   
  


Willow smiled at Spike without embarrassment when their eyes met and, as the insults and conversation continued around them, it was at that very moment she realized she was, without a doubt, in love with him.   
  


That Saturday morning six months ago had been a turning point in their relationship, but it hadn't been as big as her friends or Spike's comments made it seem. She was still a virgin -- a heavily petted virgin, but a virgin none-the-less. She hadn't been ready to take that step because, although she knew she loved him, she didn't know if she was  _in_  love with him, and she had yet say those three precious words that he's said to her time and time again.   
  


Until now.   
  


Willow lifted her hand and brushed her fingers over his lips, earning a light kiss on the tips. Her smile grew more tender and she quietly said those words she knew Spike had been patiently longing to hear. "I love you."   
  


Spike felt as though he'd been hit in the solar plexis by a two-by-four. "Wh-what?" he stammered, unsure of whether his mind was playing tricks on him or not. He'd imagined a million and ten times hearing those words from her, but never at Giles's before.   
  


"I said 'I love you,'" Willow said. She ran her fingers up the side of his cheek. "I love you, Spike, my best friend, my boyfriend, my hopefully soon-to-be lover. I love you."   
  


"Oh," Spike said in a somewhat dazed voice. "Okay."   
  


"Tell her you love her back, stupid," came a stage whisper from somewhere to his right.   
  


"I love you back, stupid," Spike repeated, then jerked his head and glared at the six people watching him and Willow with unabashed interest. "Bugger off, all of you. This here's a private moment."   
  


Willow giggled as her friends feigned nonchalance, striking up inane conversations about the weather and the Giants. Then, Spike caught her gaze again and her heart skipped several beats.   
  


"I love you, Willow," Spike told her. His hand trembled as he raised it to twist a red lock around his finger and he gave her an off-kilter grin. "Third time's the charm, eh?"   
  


"You got that right, buster," Willow said.   
  


Spike cleared his throat as he turned his head, intending to get the others' attention, but he quickly found them all staring at him and Willow again. He scowled. "Don't you lot have a demon to kill or something?"   
  


"This is more interesting," Buffy said with a grin..   
  


"So, is the Willow and Spike show on Skinamax?" Faith smacked her lips. "Do we get to see the juicy stuff now?"   
  


"Do you have something to add?" Spike growled at Angel.   
  


Angel shook his head, his smirk identical to Cordelia's, as they both silently looked on with amusement.   
  


"Guys," Willow said, her cheeks flushed a rosy hue. "Cut it out."   
  


"This demon doesn't come to power until midnight, right?" Spike asked, looking at Giles.   
  


"If-if my calculations are correct," Giles replied.   
  


Spike nodded once, grabbed Willow's hand and dragged her out the door with a surprised exclamation from the redhead.   
  


They only resurfaced to save the world then went right back to loving each other again.   
  
  
  
  
  


**THE END**

 

* * *


End file.
